The 2025 Zhongguancun Forum, which opened in Beijing on Thursday, showcased results from 11 years of collaboration between Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei province in driving industrial innovation.

In recent years, Beijing's innovative achievements have been rapidly transferred to its neighboring regions. Data shows that technology contracts from Beijing to Tianjin and Hebei were worth 84.37 billion yuan ($11.78 billion) in 2024, up 12.7% year on year. Since 2013, the cumulative value of these contracts has exceeded 370 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of over 25%.

This surge in technology transfer is also reflected in the growing presence of Zhongguancun companies in Tianjin and Hebei. The number of branches rose from over 3,500 in 2013 to over 10,000 in 2024. Several science parks have also been established, such as the Binhai-Zhongguancun Science Park, which now houses over 5,800 registered companies. 

The three regions are leveraging their respective strengths to build collaborative industrial chains. Notably, five key industries in the region, including integrated circuits, contribute to over 20% of China’s total output. The new generation information technology industry accounts for more than 60% of the total. Furthermore, they are jointly exploring emerging sectors like commercial aerospace and synthetic biology.

To foster innovation, the region's research and development spending intensity, or the expenditure on R&D as a percentage of its gross domestic product, increased from 3.22% in 2013 to 4.27% in 2023, 1.62 percentage points higher than the national average. 

Industry alliances are being established in sectors such as traditional Chinese medicine, new energy vehicles, and digital technology to strengthen the regional industrial ecosystem. A dedicated investment fund, with an initial capital of 3 billion yuan, has been created to support coordinated industrial development. The fund has attracted over 30 billion yuan of private investment.

Efforts have also been made to improve the business environment and streamline administrative procedures. The region has implemented 230 standardized Free Trade Zone policies, established mutual recognition for 209 professional qualifications, and made 417 government services available online through the "One-Stop Online Service" platform.

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