On May 15, great news came from the press conference of the 2023 ZGC Forum. In 2022, the number of new science and technology enterprises landing in Beijing reached 293, meaning that it took less than five minutes on average to establish a science and technology enterprise in Beijing, 3.8 times as many as that in 2012. Such achievements can be attributed to the continuous contributions made by the "backbone force" of Zhongguancun Science Park (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongguancun") over the past decade.

As one of the most energetic innovation hubs in China, Zhongguancun has given full play to its role as an "experimental field" of reforms in recent years. Its serial reform measures, including the one allowing enterprises to "use scientific and technological achievements first and pay later", considerably boosted its innovation capacity. In 2022, every 10,000 people in Beijing owned 218 patents of invention, 6.5 times that of 2012, while the amount of the contracts for technology transactions totaled CNY 794.75 billion, 3.2 times that of 2012.

Over the past ten years, the number of returning overseas students and foreign workers in Beijing has increased by 12 percent per annum. In 2022, Beijing has a considerable number of global "highly-cited scientists" cited for 339 person-times, accounting for 4.7 percent of the world's total number. Beijing also ranked among the top cities globally by having 102 unicorn enterprises.

Beijing's "high-specialized-cutting-edge" innovation team, which is pillared by high and new-tech enterprises and benchmarked with the specialized and sophisticated enterprises with new and unique products, has been unleashing the city's development momentum at a faster pace. In 2022, the added value of the high-tech sector accounted for 28.4 percent of GDP while the share of the digital economy skyrocketed to 41.6 percent.

The open Zhongguancun is gaining prominence as a hub of a global innovation network. Its enterprises presently have altogether more than 90,000 branches in other provinces and cities of China. In addition, these enterprises established 842 overseas branches in 2021, a number that is 1.8 times as many as that in 2012.

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)