With a decade’s efforts, high-tech zones in China have made great strides in their reform and development. They are now important bases for the development of China’s high-tech industries as well as the national economy, said Xu Guanhua, minister of science and technology, while addressing a press conference sponsored by the State Council Information Office on May 17.

Since 1991, China has set up 53 national high-tech zones including the Beijing Zhongguancun High-tech Zone. Through constantly improving their soft and hard environment, the zones have created good conditions for scientific and technological innovation and industrialization, and have gathered a large number of high-tech enterprises with distinctive features and strong competitive power.

Over the past decade, these zones have achieved an annual growth rate of over 60 percent. In 2000, their total technology-industry-trade income was 920.9 billion yuan, gross industrial output value was 794.2 billion yuan, revenue was 46 billion yuan, and foreign exchange earnings from export was US$18.6 billion, up by 106 folds, 112 folds, 118 folds and 103 folds respectively over 1991. Some famous high-tech enterprises have emerged in these zones. They include Legend, Stone, Founder, Huawei, Zhongxing, and Di'ao.

The high-tech zones featuring fast economic growth, high economic returns, strong innovative capabilities and great development potentials have become new economic growth points in the provinces and municipalities where these zones are situated. Over the past two years, they have won initial success in developing export-oriented economy, and have promoted the rapid growth of China's export of high-tech products .

Xu also pinpointed the problems confronting the high-tech zones. First, all these zones have experienced imbalanced development. Second, the reform of the management system should go in depth. Third, the government should continue to implement various stimulating polices.

He sets new goals for the nationwide high-tech zones to achieve in the coming five years: their gross industrial output value to reach 1.4 trillion yuan and earnings from export to reach US$30 billion.

High-tech zones are also urged to make greater breakthroughs in fields of electronic information, software, bioengineering, photo-electro-mechanical integration, new materials, new energy and environmental protection.

(www.china.org.cn by Feng Yikun 05/18/2001)