The city of Jinan, capital of Shandong province, has developed a plan to raise the city’s industry and economy to a new notch by 2015 by utilizing innovative technologies.
China’s National Development and Reform Committee declared the city a high-tech industrial base last November. Other cities and regions enlisted were Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xi’an, Wuhan, and the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan area in Hunan province.
Jinan’s high-tech sector is expected to maintain an average annual growth of 19%, with 600 billion yuan ($922.2 million) in output by 2015, accounting for half the city’s total output value, according to the development plan.
Innovative technology sector is expected to contribute 65% of the city’s economic growth.
The development of the five industries listed below will be given top priority over the next five years. About 100 projects are now under construction or scheduled to begin construction this year. These projects, upon completion, will give more competitive edge to Jinan.
• Information industry The development of the information industry will focus on software, integrated circuits, photo-electronics, network services, the Internet and cloud computing technologies.
Software information sales are expected to reach 170 billion yuan ($26.1 billion) by 2015, with an average annual growth of 25% and an output value accounting for 10% of Jinan’s GDP.
Jinan has about 1,100 enterprises in the software and information service business, including five major software companies in China. The city also has the largest number of independently developed software brands in China, including the top two brands – Inspur and CVIC software.
• New energy industry Greater effort will go into shoring up Jinan’s role in the solar energy business. The city will attribute great importance to biomass energies, semiconductors and new energy powered equipment.
• Bio-technology industry The biotech industry will focus on bio-medical development and agro-technology to put the traditional industry onto a more environmentally friendly track.
• New material industry The new material industry emphasizes the development of fluorine materials, organic polymers, light-alloys, fire retardant materials and environmentally friendly construction materials.
• Equipment construction This includes the construction of transportation equipment, power equipment and diesel engines, as well as instruments and meters.
A high-tech industrial base will be backed by a special government fund and a startup fund for the optimization of the infrastructure and public services. High-performance companies will be funded to commercialize patents produced in the base.
Jinan’s universities and research institutes will provide training, employing, and communication educations for skilled working staff of the base.
Jinan was chosen last year as a tertiary pilot city by the State Council. Its development plan calls for five centers dealing with information services, modern logistics, financial services, cultural tourism and exhibition businesses.
The modern logistics business is expected to have an annual revenue growth of 15% by 2015, making it a pillar industry and the city a logistics center in the Bohai Bay rim. Financial service revenues are expected to have an annual increase of 15%, reaching 53 billion yuan by 2015.
In the field of exhibitions, Jinan expects to have sales of 380 billion yuan ($8.2 billion) and profits of 24 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) by 2015.
The service industry’s output value is expected to rise to 240 billion yuan ($37.0 billion) by 2012, accounting for 53% of the city’s GDP, and 350 billion yuan ($53.9 billion), or 55% of Jinan’s GDP, by 2015.
(Source: Source:China Daily Shandong Bureau)
