PR95082

Favorable Resources and Policies to Enable Xixian New Area in Shaanxi Province to Become a Center of Scientific and Technological Innovation in Western China

XI'AN, China, March 21, 2022 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

The weather becomes warmer and spring is evident everywhere in Xixian New Area,

where enterprises and industrial parks focus on scientific and technological

innovation. Project construction in Xixian New Area is accelerating in 2022.

New opportunities offered by Qinchuangyuan, the province's innovation platform,

speeds up industrial development, enabling this open and innovative city to

align with the world with strong momentum.

In the first quarter of 2022, Xixian New Area signed 48 projects through the

combination of online and offline channels, with a total investment of RMB

86.046 billion, and introduced ten Fortune 500 companies, six Top 500

enterprises of China and three Top 500 enterprises in industry, according to

Xixian New Area Administrative Committee.

Shaanxi is a province with abundant science and education resources. In order

to transform its technological advantages into economic advantages, in March

2021, the construction of the Qinchuangyuan innovation platform was launched.

This platform will serve as an incubator for collaboration, an accelerator for

commercialization, and a booster for integration, so that universities,

research institutes and enterprises can participate in it and jointly promote

the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. The

headquarters of Qinchuangyuan is located in Xixian New Area.

In the past year, Xixian New Area has focused on implementation of provincial

and municipal plans and expended great effort in building the Qinchuangyuan

headquarters. As a result, the number of national high-tech enterprises has

increased by 53%, new small- and medium-sized technology enterprises have grown

by 48%, and technology contract transactions have increased by 34% there. The

New Area ranks first among the 65 pilot units nationwide in the formation of

Innovation China. The effect of combination of these initiatives and the

leading innovation role played by the Qinchuangyuan headquarters have

strengthened at high speed.

Resource agglomeration showing the demonstration effect

In order to accelerate the gathering of scientific and technological

initiatives and stimulate development momentum, Shaanxi Province, Xi'an

Municipality and Xixian New Area have all introduced supportive policies over

the past year. Among them, Xixian New Area has released 15 inclusive policies

and measures for the needs of technology enterprises, entrepreneurial talents,

innovation platforms, intermediary agencies and other sectors. Investors that

introduce technology-based projects to the Qinchuangyuan headquarter will be

rewarded with 1% (up to RMB 3 million) of the actual investment when the

enterprises are established and reach production capacity as agreed.

In 2021, 431 technology enterprises were introduced into Xixian New Area; 901

new small- and medium-sized technology enterprises were established, and

technology contract transactions reached RMB 10.704 billion.  Innovation

vitality continued to rise and the innovation ecosystem continued to improve,

resulting in the aggregation effect of science and technology innovation.

"As the location of the headquarter of the Qinchuangyuan innovation platform,

Xixian New Area promotes the joint construction of innovation platforms by

enterprises, entrepreneurial and innovation investors, and universities. The

New Area focuses on a technological innovation system in which 'enterprises

play the leading role, the market is the guide, and industry, universities,

research institutes and applications are integrated'. There will be continuous

improvement in the ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship, and the

agglomeration of a range of innovative initiatives will be accelerated," said

Yang Renhua, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Xixian New Area and

Leader of the Qinchuangyuan Innovation Platform Construction Leading Group in

the New Area.

Xia Baojun, a representative of enterprises participating in the Cloud Signing

at the beginning of this year, said that since the launch of Qinchuangyuan,

innovation resources have been increasingly drawn to Xixian New Area, including

leading state-owned enterprises and technological innovation services covering

finance, law and human resources. This trend has strengthened the confidence of

enterprises in developing here, I believe that in the future, more world-class

enterprises will take root here and share industry cluster resources.

Collaborative innovation to generate strong momentum

Innovative parks such as Fengdong Free Trade Industrial Park and Western Cloud

Valley of Fengxi New City to the north of the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi are

thriving.

On both sides of the Weihe River, innovation platforms such as the Western

China Science and Technology Innovation Harbour and the "Soaring Town" of

Northwestern Polytechnical University are bursting with vitality, providing a

constant flow of talent and intellectual support for Qinchuangyuan.

Along with the fast-tracked establishment of the Qinchuangyuan innovation

platform the number of scientific and technological innovation enterprises has

mushroomed, and an increasing number of local scientific research achievements

are being locally transformed into products. In 2021, Xixian New Area explored

a "batch authorization model" for the transformation of innovative achievements

with Xi'an Jiaotong University and other universities. A platform of scientific

and technological achievements transformation was jointly built with six

universities, such as Xidian University. It integrates more than 4,000 large

scientific research instruments using an online scientific and technological

resource sharing platform, staged 58 road shows and promoted 191 achievement

projects.

To date, Qinchuangyuan's technology brokers have processed in excess of 800

high-quality scientific research achievements. Contracts for the transformation

of scientific and technological achievements have been signed with more than

120 enterprises. This was effectively enabled by cooperation with 14

universities, including Xi'an Jiaotong University and Northwestern

Polytechnical University, and seven research institutes including the 39th

Research Institute of the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation.

At the beginning of spring this year, many science and technology innovation

enterprises in Western Cloud Valley Phase II in Fengxi New City were busy with

scientific research and production, aiming to capitalize on the peak season for

orders. At Shaanxi Jukang Gaobo Medical Technology Co., Ltd., the wheels were

running at full speed and machines were moving rhythmically, on which

mechanical testing of a 3D-printed human dummy was underway.

Yang Chuncheng, general manager of Shaanxi JuKang Gaobo Medical Technology Co.,

Ltd, said that relying on the Qinchuangyuan innovation platform, a team headed

by Professor Li Dichen from Xi'an Jiaotong University completed the

transformation of scientific and technological achievements and registered a

company for the Controllable Precision Bone-making Project. Innovation support

and achievement transformation policies, along with fee exemptions, in the

industrial park have boosted the team's R&D momentum.

With the help of the Qinchuangyuan innovation platform, various market players,

universities and institutes are engaging in comprehensive interactions, and

Qinchuangyuan is pressing forward with high-quality development.

Attracting talents to enhance innovation vitality

In order to enable Qinchuangyuan to attract high-end talents, Shaanxi Province

plans to accelerate the introduction of high-end foreign experts this year. A

model based on "employment by universities, use by enterprises, and subsidies

by the government" will be deployed, and there will be significant support for

enterprises for the introduction of high-level talents from China and abroad. A

number of overseas offshore innovation centers and intelligence introduction

service centers will be built to expand the channels for overseas high-end

talents to come to China for cooperative research and academic exchange.

On March 14, Xixian New Area issued the Qinchuangyuan Innovative Talents Plan

to facilitate an orderly flow of talents and form an attractive option for

innovation and development in Qinchuangyuan. According to the Plan, recognized

talents will be rewarded with 100% funding for three consecutive years, based

on their personal financial contribution in the previous year. In particular,

talent projects funded by national, provincial and municipal authorities will

be supported by a combination of equity investment and financial aid. A funding

of up to 50% of the total will be given, with a maximum of RMB 1 million.

"We will adhere to the principle of 'enterprises as the main body, talents as

the main force, market as the main guide and government as the main driver'. We

will accelerate the solicitation and cultivation of key enterprises, pool

together resources from state-owned enterprises, universities, institutes and

the city of Xi'an, strongly encourage coordinated development, accelerate the

construction of the Qinchuangyuan headquarters, and provide strong support for

high-quality development of Shaanxi Province and Xi'an city," said Jiang

Jianchun, Director of the Xixian New Area Administrative Committee and

Executive Deputy Leader of the Qinchuangyuan Innovation Platform Construction

Leading Group in the New Area.

Gathering high-end initiative resources globally, a more open Xixian New Area

is growing rapidly.

Source: Xixian New Area Administrative Committee