Shanghai Opens High-tech Park

With the opening of a technological innovation park Sunday, Zhangjiang High-Technology Park is contributing to the development of Shanghai high-tech industries, China Daily reports.

Shanghai Zhangjiang Technological Innovation (TI) Park is devoted to high-tech research, developing Chinese patents and technological transfer.

Although only the first phase of construction has been completed, the TI park is already home to several important national research centers and about 30 high-tech enterprises.

The most high-profile one is the Shanghai Pudong Science and Technology Park of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). "It starts a new round of co-operation between the academy and the local government," said CAS President Lu Yongxiang.

According to recent central government policy initiatives, all research centers under CAS will be transformed into companies that do both technological research and commercial applications.

The establishment of the CAS's science and technology park in Zhangjiang is part of this reform process.

After 10 years of development, the park has become a base for the nation's bio-technology and pharmaceutical industry, and the information technology industry.

Except for some research centers recently established for basic science research, such as the National Genome Center (South) completed in 1998, most of the high-tech industries in the park are foreign based.

Both the central and local governments hope to take advantage of the park's improved infrastructure to develop Chinese patents. Both the Technological Innovation Park and Pudong Software Park, opened in March in Zhangjiang, are working to this end.

Shanghai Vice-Mayor Zhou Yupeng announced at the park's opening ceremony the provision of a seed fund to finance start-ups.



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