HAIKOU /China/, July 16. /TASS/. The Yazhou Bay Science and Technology City zone in the city of Sanya has turned into a powerful driver for the development of the scientific and production industry cluster of the Hainan Free Trade Port, Hainan Daily reported.
According to the publication, Sanya's Yazhou Bay is continuously strengthening and expanding international contacts in order to form coherent and stable supply chains. In the process of attracting resources necessary for the development and implementation of the latest technologies, the combined efforts of the government, academia and business in Hainan are forming an industrial site that will soon meet the world's latest standards.
Yazhou Bay has attracted the attention of Chinese agro-industrial and high-tech companies: China Seed Group, Guotou Seed Industry Technology, Da Bei Nong Group, BellaGen, BGI Group. According to the report, their participation is helping establish the southernmost province of China as a selective breeding “Silicon Valley”.
In addition, since 2021, the science city has hosted about a dozen fast-growing innovative enterprises such as Win-All High-Tech Seed and Etexe. As the number of organizations registered in the Zone increases, Sanya is attracting more investment. The tax contributions to the state budget from their revenues are becoming an important driver for Hainan's socio-economic development.
“In 2023, our company and its related industry cluster generated more than 4 bn yuan [$560 mn at the current exchange rate] in revenue for the Silicon Valley breeding “Silicon Valley.” In 2024, the science city will attract many innovative seed breeding organizations such as Jianghuai Horticulture Research Institute,” said Zhang Xiaoqiang, director of strategy and government affairs of China Seed Group.
Science City Achievements
According to the newspaper, Yazhou Bay has made impressive achievements in just five years, “emerging as if from thin air.” According to official data cited by the newspaper, this innovation zone hosts four national-level laboratories and 38 leading research institutions, including units of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the China Academy of Agricultural Sciences. There are 10 teams which include members of the Academies engaged in promising research and development.
In addition, 14 major universities have registered branches in the science city. Yazhou Bay has 34 innovation platforms of provincial and departmental level.
More than 11,400 companies are located here, which contribute to the dynamic formation of strategically important scientific and production chains in the region. The total annual revenue of these enterprises that have established businesses or set up representative offices in Sanya is estimated at 95.2 bn yuan ($13.3 bn).
According to statistics, more than 180 projects are being implemented in the science city, with fixed capital investment in each project exceeding 5 mn yuan ($700,000).
Yazhou Bay is located on the coast of the South China Sea and is among the key innovative development projects of Hainan Free Trade Port. The area of plots allocated for science-intensive enterprises and other infrastructure facilities exceeds 26 square kilometers. The science city is home to China's leading selective breeding laboratories and a deep-sea marine research center.