Guangzhou to invest 11b yuan in innovation in 2017

GUANGZHOU - Guangzhou will pump more than 11 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) into science and technology in the city in 2017, authorities said.

The investment jumped from 5 billion yuan in 2015 to 8 billion yuan in 2016, according to Zhan Decun, deputy director of Guangzhou science & technology and innovation commission.

The money will be used to establish more R&D centers with international standards, expand incubators to provide services such as management training and to finance high-tech firms.

"Now we have more than 40 R&D centers, but we need more," Zhan said at the ongoing Guangzhou International Innovation Festival, a four-day event being held in the capital city of South China's Guangdong province.

In the next three years, the city will double the area of incubators to 10 million square meters and provide help for more than 20,000 companies.

Compared with Beijing and Shanghai, Guangzhou has advantages as an innovation city, according to Mahdi Shariff of big data company Sunteng.

"Guangzhou has huge opportunity because of its proximity to Hong Kong, Shenzhen and southeast Asia," said Shariff.

The Guangzhou International Innovation Festival began on Monday,attracting more than 1,000 entrepreneurs and investors from 30 countries and regions, including the United States and Britain.