On January 21, the Innovation-driven Boosting Project and Academician & Expert Research Center Meeting were held in Xiangyang.

Since 2009, guided by Xiangyang Association for Science and Technology, Xiangyang has set up 37 academician & expert research centers. Furthermore, Xiangyang has established the “Promotion Mechanism for Industry-University-Research Cooperation of School-Localities Association for Science and Technology” through cooperation with 10 universities, such as Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Central China Normal University, inviting 29 academicians and over 210 experts and professors to interactively conduct industry-university-research cooperation with businesses in Xiangyang. Among over 180 successful matching projects of 90-odd businesses in Xiangyang through face-to-face matching meetings between academicians & experts and businesses, more than 40 technologies filled the international and domestic blank or reached the national advanced level. Thanks to enormous productivity brought by new technology projects, Xiangyang saw over RMB 2 billion in newly added output value of a year, RMB 200 million in new profits, and more than 2,500 new jobs.