Edge in hi-tech industry sharpens

THE Zhuhai State-Level Hi-Tech Development Zone is now on a high-growth track, according to an official at the zone’s Science & Technology Department.
The zone, located along the coastal line in Tangjiawan Town, encompasses Sun yat-sen University Zhuhai, Beijing Institute of Technology Zhuhai and Beijing Normal University Zhuhai; five technical business incubators including Tsinghua Science Park, Southern Software Park and Individually Run Science & Technology Park; nine technical innovation public service platforms and more than 20 laboratories.
It has a favourable location, environment, historical and cultural heritage, and pool of scientific and technical personnel.
Known as Home to Historic Figures in Modern China, Century-Old Lingnan Cultural Town and Famous Guangdong Cradle for Compradors, Tangjiawan Town was home to Tang Shaoyi (Tong Shao Yi), the first premier of the Republic of China.
Also on the list of local sons are Tang Guo’an (Tong Kwo On), the first president of Tsinghua University; Tang Tingshu, an industrial spearhead; Su Zhaozheng, leader of the Workers Movement; prestigious art master and educator Gu Yuan; famous Cantonese Opera playwright Tang Disheng, and many others. It is also abundant in historical sites and relics.
Furthermore, Tangjiawan Town is the first economic port in the Pearl River Estuary featuring both historical heritage and modern science and technology represented by university campuses and science parks.
Around 15,000 employees, of which holders of master’s degrees or above account for 5 per cent, bachelor’s degrees 45 per cent, and associate degrees or below, were registered in 2007. The zone has formed hi-tech industrial clusters with electronics and information industries centering on software and integrated circuit design, biotechnology, new pharmaceuticals, optics, mechanics and electrical devises as well as new materials. The electronics and information industries account for 70 per cent of the total and have been growing at the rate of 30 per cent over the past few years. Sales revenue exceeding 8 billion yuan ($1.14 billion) was recorded in 2007.
The five science and technology parks cover 350,000sqm and contain nearly 300 businesses. Nine platforms concerning biopharmaceutical new preparations, software product testing, integrated circuit design and other fields provide open services for businesses in independent innovation and R&D.
The output value of hi-tech products in the zone reached 64.5 billion yuan ($9.21 billion) in 2007, a year-on-year increase of 13 per cent, accounting for 68 per cent of the city’s total.
The city has registered 98 provincial-level hi-tech businesses, of which 54 are located in the zone, more than 80 R&D projects concerning 50 businesses and 30 college and universities. There are more than 120 qualified software and integrated circuit design enterprises in the zone. Enterprises there, including Actions Semiconductor, Guangdong YGsoft Inc, Wanlida Electric, Eastcom Peace Smart Card, Elec-Tech International and Ronsen Super Micro-Wire, have become listed companies.
The software and integrated circuit industries exported $300 million in goods in 2007. The products feature integrated circuit, household appliances, SIM card and video-game software and go to more than 10 countries and regions such as Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, the US, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, India and Britain.
Actions Semiconductor has become one of China’s leading fabless semiconductor companies that provides comprehensive mixed-signal system-on-a-chip (SOC) and multimedia digital signal processing (DSP) solutions for portable consumer electronics. It has had sales revenue of 1.257 billion yuan ($180 million) so far this year.