CHINA DAILY | GLOBAL EDITION Friday, December 11, 2020 ADVERTORIAL | 5 Progress made in becoming sci­tech center

City leads country in multiple categories BEIJING’S PROGRESS IN INNOVATION for R&D prowess

By ZHANG LINWAN 241,282 284,275 [email protected] 75% 2018 2019 Other sectors 15,900 eijing has made significant 2016 progress over the past five years in building the city 20,163 into a sci­tech innovation 2017 Bcenter, according to the Beijing Sci­ ence and Technology Commission. The Global Innovation Hubs Index 2020 released by the academ­ Number of high-tech ic publisher Springer Nature and 24,856 businesses Tsinghua University in September, 25% 2018 reported Beijing ranked fifth among 205,320 30 cities and metropolitan areas High-tech 2017 around the world. businesses Beijing attaches great importance to scientific and technological inno­ 27,416 vations and has seen continuous 166,722 2019 growth in its innovation capability, 102,323 2016 said officials from the Beijing Sci­ 2016 ence and Technology Commission. Beijing’s expenditure on research 106,948 and development reached 223.36 2017 billion yuan ($33.97 billion) in 2019, accounting for 6.31 percent of the city’s GDP. In the same year, the Number of new number of national­level high­tech enterprises across the city exceeded patents Contribution to Beijing’s 123,496 Number of accumulative 27,000, an increase of about 70 per­ cent from 2016. GDP in 2019 2018 valid invention patents Focusing on key industries such as information technology and life sciences, the city has built an array 41.4% of research institutions including Beijing 131,716 6.5 the Chinese Institute for Brain 41,425 2019 2019 Research, Beijing and the Beijing 2016 Academy of Artificial Intelligence. Beijing has also offered custom­ ized services to create an enabling 46,091 environment for innovations, said 21.6% 2017 local officials. Shanghai Research at the Beijing Academy 5.88 of Artificial Intelligence focuses on Number of new 2018 mathematical foundations, machine invention patents learning, natural language process­ 46,978 ing, intelligent information retrieval 2018 and mining, intelligent architecture and chips, and neural basis for cog­ nition. The academy is preparing to 12.3% launch new teams for research on Hangzhou 53,127 2019 813.24 decision intelligence and machine 2016 perception, and it supports both open and explorative research. 7.4% With an open resource system, an Shenzhen 908.56 innovation center in the academy 2017 will encourage breakthroughs in 4.57 5.3 core technologies and major crea­ 17.3% Added value of new 2016 tions of AI, as well as their applica­ 2017 Other cities tions. economy 1,005.74 The academy joined hands with a Unit: billion yuan group of renowned universities, 2018 research institutes and a trade asso­ ciation to release the Beijing AI Principles in May 2019. Integrating the traditional Chi­ 1,276.58 nese philosophy of harmonious 394.08 2019 co­existence and seeking cross­sec­ The country's unicorn business 2016 Zhongguancun Science Park’s tor, multi­department global coop­ eration, the document contributes a landscape in 2019 by number business revenue Beijing solution for the AI sector’s of companies 448.53 Unit: trillion yuan healthy growth, local officials said. 2017 Megvii, a Beijing­based AI compa­ ny, developed an AI­powered tem­ perature inspection system in the Value of technological early stage of the COVID­19 out­ contracts break, which supports remote 495.78 Unit: billion yuan screening from more than 3 meters 2018 away and enables 15 people to be 6.31% 36.1% checked at the same time. The system has been deployed in many airports, hospitals and super­ Spending on R&D Beijing’s new economy markets in major cities. accounted for 6.31 percent 569.53 contributed 36.1 percent of the The tech startup set out from of the city’s GDP in 2019. 2019 city’s GDP in 2019. Zhongguancun, a high­tech busi­ { { { { { { { { { { { { { { { { { { ness hub in the city. “We knew little about the market or capital and had to grope our way,” said an executive at the company. “Fortunately, Source: Beijing Science and Technology Commission & CB Insights MUKESH MOHANAN / CHINA DAILY Zhongguancun has everything that we need for our company’s growth.” Long Guilu’s team from the Bei­ mitted to attracting foreign enter­ were launched in Beijing. efforts to build a sci­tech innovation ence City in Miyun and Huairou dis­ innovative industrial clusters in jing Academy of Quantum Informa­ prises and promoting international These prosperous high­tech center with global influence. tricts and the Beijing Economic­ Shunyi district, focusing on intelli­ tion Sciences announced the world’s cooperation in the high­tech field. industries have become an impor­ Xu said one of the major tasks in Technological Development Area. gent vehicles, the third­generation first prototype machine of quantum By the end of 2019, Beijing was tant driver of the city’s economic 2020 is to advance the development Zhongguancun Science City, semiconductors, and the aerospace direct communication in Septem­ home to more than 560 foreign­ growth, said Xu Qiang, director of of the city’s major innovation facili­ Huairou Science City, Future Sci­ sector, have developed into the pin­ ber, paving the way for a more funded research institutions. the Beijing Science and Technology ties — “three cities and one area”. ence City and the Beijing Economic­ nacle of Beijing’s innovation and secure communication system. Many cross­border projects such Commission. These are Zhongguancun Science Technological Development Area, provided a major framework for the Not just an ideal environment for as Intel’s open innovation hub and Based on the remarkable City, Beijing Future Science Park in also known as Beijing ETown, as city’s drive to build itself into a sci­ domestic innovators, Beijing is com­ the China­Italy innovation center progress, Beijing will continue its Changping district, Huairou Sci­ well as a demonstration zone for ence and technology center.

ences, said: “It is necessary to create a sound global tech innovation hub Beijing retains reputation as hub for creativity and innovation index system, which is conducive to keeping our finger on the pulse of the By SONG MENGXING logical innovation in artificial intelli­ ties in the rankings include San development personnel per 1 million Beijing is home to 93 unicorn original driving force behind the [email protected] gence. Francisco­San Jose in California, the people far outnumbers that in any companies, which refers to startup changes in the world innovation Xuan Zhaohui, a researcher at the United States; New York; Tokyo and other city nationwide, the report said. businesses each valued at least $1 landscape and enabling in­time Beijing has shown strong momen­ Chinese Academy of Science and London, according to the report. The effective patent inventory for billion. Of the unicorn companies in adjustments in our country’s innova­ tum as a scientific center and inno­ Technology for Development, said Beijing scored particularly high in the AI industry in Beijing has Beijing, 76 have made the list of the tion­driven development policies.” vation hub, according to the Global the report, which reviewed 30 cities two specific areas: science centers, reached some 18,000, and the num­ world’s top 500 unicorn companies. Liang Zheng, a professor with the Innovation Hubs Index 2020 and city groups worldwide, has and research strengths and influ­ ber of effective invention patents per Their combined estimated value School of Public Policy and Manage­ released recently, thanks to China’s established an index system focused ence. 1 million people surpassed 840, stood at more than $421.62 billion, ment at Tsinghua University, said national innovation­driven develop­ on three aspects — science centers, It boasts a group of renowned uni­ according to the report. Those statis­ according to the latest data. the index gives special attention to ment strategy. research strengths and influence, versities, including Peking Universi­ tics made Beijing a top­ranked city The combined amounts that frontier and steering innovations, The report, compiled by Springer and innovation ecosystem — and ty and Tsinghua University, and 10 in the world for the two categories. startup businesses in Beijing such as patent filings and coopera­ Nature and Tsinghua University, was made a pioneering contribution to world­class research institutions. Beijing has developed a close secured from venture capital com­ tion networks in the field of AI, and released at the 2020 Zhongguancun the research into global innovation Beijing­headquartered Chinese cooperation network for AI patents panies and private equity firms both numbers of innovative businesses Forum in September. It said Beijing hubs. Academy of Sciences has a complete with Chinese cities including Shang­ ranked second worldwide in 2019. and unicorn companies in the had made achievements in scientific In addition to Beijing, other top 10 scientific research system and bal­ hai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It Mu Rongping, dean of the School emerging industries including research and infrastructure and cities and city groups in terms of anced subject distribution. has room to expand collaboration in of Public Policy and Management at information technology and bioph­ increased its capabilities of techno­ comprehensive innovation capaci­ Beijing’s index of research and this field with its international peers. University of Chinese Academy of Sci­ armaceuticals.