First Chinese "Science City" to be built

Written 20.03.2005 16:31 by Esther Russell Print Send article

Hefei City, provincial capital of the Anhui Province

Hefei, capital of Central China's Anhui Province, is to become the new home to China’s first ever “Science City”. The city is actively seeking new technological industries and striving for efficient use of energy and raw materials.

Already Hefei boasts of over 200 thousand scientific and technological personnel, more than 200 scientific research institutions, 24 academics and more than 50 colleges including the famous University of Science and Technology of China.

The plan was authorized by the government November last year and it will be guided by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the local government for the next five to 15 years.

"Our object is to build Hefei into a city boasting beautiful environment, advanced information sharing, a strong cultural atmosphere and scientific creation capability that could attract scientific talent from around the world," said Guo Wanqing, mayor of Hefei.

"It is a great move for the Chinese government to promote its innovation ability by building a city gathering scientific and technological research centers and high and new technological industries, just like the Silicon Valley of the US," said Cheng Biding, an expert in regional development.

The first group of 25 projects was selected in 2004 and an estimated 13.85 billion yuan (1.67 billion US dollars) will be invested. A variety of fields shall be covered through these projects, including scientific research, industrialization, education, commerce and infrastructure construction.

From 2004 on, the Anhui Provincial government will allocate 50 million yuan (6 million US dollars) and the Hefei Municipal government will invest 100 million yuan (12.1 million US dollars) each year in order to construct the "Science City."

Already four projects are underway with a total cost of more than 300 million yuan (36.2 million US dollars).

Some large overseas projects such as the sixth global technological centre of Microsoft have already decided to be move to the city.

Source: China View