SHENZHEN - Innovation saw this boomtown of Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong province have the third highest gross domestic product in the country in 2016, following Shanghai and Beijing.Statistics authorities of Guangdong earlier this month published a revised version of last year's GDP based on a new calculating method taking into account of expenditure on research and development (R&D), which was previously excluded.Shenzhen's GDP exceeded 2 trillion yuan ($302 billion), 58.6 billion yuan more than the previous calculation, replacing the provincial capital of Guangzhou as the third in the ranking.In July, China's State Council approved the calculation method, which is in line with international standards, to recognize innovation in the economy.China has been relying on innovation as a major engine for growth. At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which charted the course for the country's future development, innovation was widely encouraged, and labeled as the primary driving force behind development.INNOVATION RULESIn many ways, Shenzhen can be seen as a microcosm of China's innovation-based development.The city has made a dramatic transformation from a tiny fishing enclave in the 1970s, to an innovation hub hosting some of China's most successful tech companies and startups.Shenzhen-based tech giant Huawei said it spent 11 billion U. S. dollars on R&D last year, compared to 10 billion U.S. dollars spent by Apple Inc.Two years after its foundation in 2012, the Royole company rolled-out the world's thinnest bendable screens, which if used on an iPad, would allow it to be folded to the size of an iPhone.Drone maker DJI has pioneered the development of drones, gaining 80 percent of global market share.Shenzhen spent over 80 billion yuan on R&D in 2016, accounting for 4.1 percent of its GDP, comparing to 33.3 billion yuan in 2010.According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, China's spending on R&D reached 1.54 trillion yuan in 2016, accounting for 2.1 percent of GDP.INNOVATORS UNITECities around Shenzhen are joining hands seeking to maximize their innovation might.Guangdong wants to build a Chinese Silicon Valley and in September approved a plan to establish the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, vowing to make it a world-class hi-tech industry innovation center by 2050.The economic belt, stretching more than 180 kilometers, covers an area of 11,836 square km, including the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan. The three cities are home to over 78 percent of hi-tech enterprises and 60 percent of advanced R&D institutions in the Pearl River Delta.Chen Zaiqi, researcher with Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, said the resources would boost innovation-driven development in the corridor as well as integrated development of free trade zones in the delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.Liu Zunyi, an official with Shenzhen Finance Institute, said that to save costs and boost development more effort was needed in the flow of services, talent, capital and information between all cities in the region. fidget spinner braceletwristbands with tabscustom rubber wristbandscheap silicone wristbands
Nearly 480,000 have seen display on nation's recent achievements A group of foreign diplomats and foreign experts working in China visit an exhibition in Beijing on Friday showcasing China's achievements over the past five years. ZOU HONG/CHINA DAILY Technological innovations such as models of China's manned submersible Jiaolong, bullet trains and interactive robots impressed foreign diplomats and experts working in Beijing who toured an exhibition in the Chinese capital on Friday. Judging from what has been done in the past five years, we can already say that the next five years are going to be even more successful, Rwandan Ambassador to China Charles Kayonga told China Daily. The guests were invited to Beijing Exhibition Hall to have a closer look at China's recent achievements. As of Friday, the exhibition, Five Years of Sheer Endeavor, had racked up a total of nearly 480,000 visitors since it opened on Sept 25. Many residents have lined up for tickets to the display, which includes models of China's cutting-edge machinery and equipment that are rarely put on display. It employs virtual reality technology as well as panoramic slideshows to enhance the experience. China is now becoming a country that's more of an innovator rather a country that relies on the technology of other nations, so that is a very good sign, said Edwin Maher, a visiting professor of journalism studies at the Communication University of China. It has been made very clear that China is very much leading in many, many sectors of world technologies and science, said Maher, who has been in China for 14 years and was once a news anchor on China Central Television's English Channel. Around a decade ago, Maher was awarded the Friendship Award, the highest honor that a foreign expert or outstanding achiever can receive from the Chinese government. The huge telescope that's been opened and the continuing development of the high-speed train system are also some things I am very interested in, he added as he toured the displays. Maher said that over the past year and a half, measures taken to improve the environment have really been felt in China, especially in Beijing. Science and technology were only a small part of the exhibition, which features 10 themed zones, including economic progress, political reform, cultural development, environmental protection, Party discipline, diplomacy and military reform. Uzbek Ambassador to China Bakhtiyor Saidov said that China has hosted of a range of major international events. China's diplomacy has made remarkable progress, he said.
