Dongguan, an innovation cluster sees tech giants coming in

          From 9 August to 11 August, key figures of the tech industry including Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group and Hu Yu, the Chairman-in-Office of IFLYTEK, together with 6,000 developers met in Dongguan, for Huawei Developers Conference 2019 to discuss on the terminal industry, the global application and development of 5G technology and the construction of a global industrial ecosystem. The conference took place in Songshan Lake, a high-tech area with beautiful natural scenery. The person in charge of Songshan Lake Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone Administrative Committee said Dongguan is embracing more advanced technology enterprises, talents and innovative carriers with its ever-growing ability of incubating innovative companies and superior business environment.

          Dongguan excels in commercializing scientific and technological achievements, with a complete industrial chain, sufficient skilled technicians and a relevantly low land cost which increase the efficiency of industrializing and commercializing research findings and therefore make companies and products more competitive.

          Meanwhile, incubators of Dongguan which help attract technology enterprises are bringing vitality and energy to the city's innovative ecosystem. Taking XBOTPARK, the start-up incubator focusing on robotics and smart hardware as an example, it has linked resources including universities, research institutes, enterprises, upstream and downstream supply chains etc. since its establishment in 2014, successfully incubating more than 90 innovative projects. Li Zexiang, one of the founders of XBOTPARK, said, for young people developing new technological products there, the iteration speed might be five to ten times faster than they are in Silicon Valley, or Europe, with only one fifth to one fourth of the cost of its counterparts.

          Quality hi-tech companies in Dongguan also exert an initiator effect on converging upstream and downstream companies and improving the overall industrial ecosystem. While Huawei set its R&D Center in Dongguan, its suppliers like iSoftStone and Chinasoft International Limited also founded their bases there. Such companies are providers of emerging technologies like big data and clod computing and contributors to innovating IT services, also serving as an important part of the city's innovation ecosystem.

          Some experts believe Huawei has driven Dongguan's development by setting its R&D center here. The city will function to develop, test and produce mature products. Dongguan and Shenzhen together will become new global tech hubs and play a more important role in international industrial division system.

          The great business environment of Dongguan helps attract high-end innovative elements. The constantly deepened business system reform has enviably simplified the process of company registration and approval procedure, and decreased operating costs. This is also an impetus for more advanced talents operating their innovative businesses in Dongguan, promoting the core competitiveness of the city.

          By the end of 2018, Dongguan is home to over 5700 national hi-tech enterprises and 36 provincial innovative research teams. The entities occupy a key position in the city's innovation ecosystem and work as its fulcrum to build into a national innovative city.

          "Centering on innovation-driven development, Dongguan spares no efforts to attract investment in innovation sectors, encourage companies to strengthen R&D and support independent innovation, in ways to achieve high-quality economic growth of the city," said experts attending the conference.

          Source: Songshan Lake Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone Administrative Committee

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