A Chinese City Goes After Silicon Valley

CHENGDU, China, April 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The innovative spirit of Silicon Valley, which represents the American Dream, has been also inspiring the China Dream. Now, an ambitious hi-tech zone in western China is striving to establish its own "Silicon Valley".

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140403/CN97476 )

In two days, Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone (CDHT) had witnessed two important occasions: publishing the "Third Trend of Entrepreneurship" Industrial Development Plan of CDHT (2013-2020) (The Plan) and honoring "Enterprise and Talent of the Year." The Plan points out the basic paths relating to model, subject, platform, and mechanism of the development, in which "innovation" is the key word. Speeding up the industrial upgrading of strategic emerging industries by encouraging innovation is practically written on paper. 33 people were granted the 2013 Talent of Innovation and Entrepreneurship with a sum of 26.5 million RMB ($4.26 million) reward. "We want to give a strong signal to the world, demonstrating our determination of reform by supporting innovation," said an official of CDHT.

The foundation of its industry confirms the ambition of imitating Silicon Valley. The zone's industrial added value in 2013 reached 103.97 billion RMB ($16.74 billion), while the added value of strategic emerging industries grew by 18.6 percent to 52 billion RMB ($ 8.37 billion). In 2013, 96 industrial programs of CDHT have begun operation, including Dell Chengdu Operations Site, Siemens Electronics Works Chengdu, and Philips LED Lighting Campus; the operations of TI's fully integrated wafer fabrication and assembly/test facility could total up to $1.69 billion over the next 15 years, further demonstrating TI's long-term investment strategy in this important region.

"Chengdu is not only the ancestral homeland to giant pandas, but also a modern technologic innovation hub in western China," said the official of CDHT. While remaining a magnet for domestic and foreign investment, western China demonstrates its growing importance as China's economic hinterland. Chengdu is an epitome of this, with the wealth of talent and human resources, reasonable labor and living cost, profound culture and hi-tech foundation, and well-developed logistics for unlocking the greater western China market that makes the city surprisingly inviting for global investors.

"More importantly, innovation ability can better equip our enterprises in the competitive global market," said the official. In the first quarter of 2014, 1,624 new enterprises registered by a growth of 49.95 percent, including 675 science and technology companies.