Xu Guanhua, Minister of Science and Technology, said that as products of the country's reform and opening-up, the high-tech zones conform to the trend of the new technological revolution and international competition.

They have made great strides in their reform and development, as well as in formulating innovative systems and enterprise incubation capabilities, and in fostering innovative personnel, said Xu when summarizing the development of 53 national high-tech zones recently at a press conference hosted by the State Council Information Office.

In 2000, the zones netted a total income of 920.9 billion yuan (US$111 billion), scored 794.2 billion yuan worth of gross industrial output value, contributed 46 billion yuan to the state revenue, and exported US$18.6 billion worth of goods. The figures were 100 times higher than those of 1991, when the country began establishing such kind of zones.

The 53 zones also gained 197.9 billion yuan in industrial added value last year, increasing 50.3 billion yuan more than in the previous year and constituting 24 percent of the nation's total added value from the industrial sector.

"Most of the national zones feature fast economic growth, high economic returns, strong innovative capabilities and great development potential," Xu said.

The market-oriented national zones introduced the reform of the systems of property rights, distribution, labor and personnel, social security and the establishment of a modern enterprise mechanism. The annual growth of major economic indicators reached over 60 percent in those zones.

In 2005, these zones are expected to realize a total income of 1.7 trillion yuan, a gross industrial output value of 1.4 trillion yuan and an export value of US$30 billion, Xu estimates.

The zones were encouraged to make breakthroughs in the electronic information, software, bio-engineering, photo-electro-mechanical integration, new materials, new energy sources and environmental protection industries.

China has rich intellectual resources based on a huge population with higher education. This provides the country a potential for developing the knowledge-based economy. Take the Zhongguancun area in Beijing for example, a total of 68 universities and 232 research institutes are scattered in the area of 75 square kilometers.

Meanwhile, the government poured in more and more investment in order to improve facilities and management in the zones.

Statistics show that of the 20,796 enterprises in the national zones, 1,252 had an annual output value of more than 100 million yuan, 143 had over 1 billion yuan, and 6 had over 10 billion yuan.

Some famous high-tech enterprises, such as Legend, Stone and Founder, have also emerged from the zones.

Experts estimate that about 1,000 high-tech zones throughout the world are in operation, with 180 in the United States, 400 in Europe and more than 400 in the Asian-Pacific Region.

China's high-tech zones still have much to be desired despite of great achievements over the past years, Xu said.

He pointed out that five or six zones in the state's economically underdeveloped areas are still witnessing a comparatively low growth rate.

With more and more scientific start-ups being kicked off in the zones, their management bodies have started to swell, which runs against the ministry's guiding policy of "small organs and extensive service."

Xu warned the high-tech zones against restoring the obsolete management systems of the planned economy.

In addition, he vowed to offer much more preferential policies for high-tech start-ups, in a drive to help them win over their international counterparts.

(Xinhua 05/21/2001)