On December 24, 2020, the Information Office of Beijing Municipality organized and held a special press briefing on science and technology innovation in a series of press briefings to review the work in the 13th Five-Year Plan period and look forward to the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Beijing has topped the "Nature Index 2020 Science Cities" three years in a row, with added value of new economy accounting for more than one third of the regional GDP.

As a new national innovation hub, Beijing has developed rapidly featuring innovative economy, and its global ranking considering business environment has risen gradually. According to the Global Innovation Hubs Index 2020, Beijing ranked fifth globally.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Beijing has consistently strengthened basic research and taken more steps to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies for key fields. Beijing has maintained an investment of about 6% of its GDP into research and experimental development, exceeding that of well-known innovative cities such as New York City and Berlin. The proportion of investment into basic research has risen from 13.8% in 2015 to 15.9% in 2019.

Beijing has also boosted the economic structure adjustment to highlight the role of high-tech industries and the increasing support of sci-tech innovation for high-quality development of the city. In 2019, the output scale of Beijing's artificial intelligence industry reached CNY 170 billion, increased by 140% over the year 2015. The overall scale of the pharmaceutical and health industry exceeded CNY 200 billion, maintaining double-digit growth for four consecutive years.

Yang Renquan, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, introduced that Beijing will promote the integrated development of "Three Cities and One Area" (Zhongguancun Science City, Beijing Future Science City, Huairou Science City and Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area), spare no efforts in building a main innovative platform. Beijing will strive to become a globally advanced city in digital economy and incubate new industrial clusters worth up to thousands of billions. At the same time, Beijing will also focus on the market-oriented allocation of essential elements to ensure a fair and just environment for innovation and easier access to resources.

(Note: Content source is from Xinhua)