Central China's Hunan aims to become manufacturing, innovation hub: official

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Central China's Hunan Province is striving to build itself into an advanced manufacturing hub, a sci-tech and innovation center, and a pacesetter for reform and the opening up of inland regions, Hunan governor Mao Weiming said Friday.

Mao told a press conference that more efforts will be made to upgrade traditional industries, consolidate advantageous industries, develop emerging industries, and map out future industries.

Total output of high-tech industries in Hunan has surpassed 1 trillion yuan (over 140 billion U.S. dollars), while the number of tech firms there has already exceeded 10,000 and is growing rapidly. The province hosts the only national new generation computing industry cluster in China and is also home to the largest rail transit equipment research, production and export base in the country.

Mao noted that the province ranks ninth nationwide in terms of general innovation capacity and has made breakthroughs in 147 tech projects through consistent high-level research over the past few years.

Hunan will also work to build a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment and push forward reform and opening up in inland regions, he said.

Thanks to its improved business environment, the province has attracted 211 projects and subsidiaries from Fortune 500 companies, he said.

Hunan's GDP amounted to over 5 trillion yuan last year, up significantly from 2 trillion yuan in 2012, Mao said, while also stressing that this growth features upgraded industries and improved quality.