Companies in USTC Silicon Valley in Hefei – capital city of East China's Anhui province – are thriving after the provincial government issued an implementation plan for its construction on June 13 last year.

The innovation hub consists of the Core Area, the Hefei high-tech zone, iFlytek Town and the Shushan Area.

The Hefei high-tech zone was designed to lay out a number of high-quality innovation and entrepreneurship platforms, with the zone taking advantage of leading research institutes to focus on business incubations and the commercialization of R&D achievements.

Anhui Epitaxy Technology Co Ltd, a high-tech enterprise focusing on thin-film epitaxy equipment, found the space it needed in the Shushan Area of the USTC Silicon Valley, which provided over 800 square meters of space with complete office equipment.

What's more, the Shushan Area not only reduced the company's rent for the first three years, but also helped it connect with investment and financing institutions.

An interior view of Origin Quantum's chip manufacturing and packaging laboratory in the Hefei high-tech zone. [Photo/gxq.hefei.gov.cn]

"The emergence of USTC Silicon Valley has greatly encouraged science and innovation enterprises and its relevant policies are tailored for science and technology innovation, which gives entrepreneurs a lot of confidence," said Zhang Hui, general manager of Origin Quantum, a quantum computing company that established itself in the zone in 2017.

In addition, the USTC Silicon Valley Hong Kong Innovation Center was opened in May in Hong Kong to further serve sci-tech and industry development.