Along with fast economic growth, the development in knowledge and technology makes increasing contributions to the whole society. New scientific R&D will exert strong influence on the development of a city's industries, and new technologies and emerging sectors will inject more powerful vitality to the city. Chengdu aims to be a national major city and western China's science & technology center in the years to come, showing its foresight and global vision to become an innovation-driven city in the future.

加快建设中的成都科学城

Chengdu Science City under construction

In June, the 2016 Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair was convened in the city. The event brought together top experts and professionals of hi-tech innovation and entrepreneurship from across the world to probe into the world's cutting-edge technologies involving gravitational wave, dark matter, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, new light source, and precision medicine. The Sophia-antipolis, one of the leading hi-tech industry parks in Europe, announced at the fair that it would establish a sister-park tie with the Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone and set up an innovation center in the city.

In last September, Sichuan was approved by the Chinese national government as one of the country's pilot areas to carry out comprehensive innovation reform, resulting in crucial historical opportunities for Chengdu to transform its patterns of economic growth and foster new drivers for its economic and social development. The ever more opening city is speeding up its pace to integrate into the global hi-tech innovation system. At the end of last October, the state leaders of China and South Korea reached an agreement on co-building an innovation and entrepreneurship platform. Soon after, the Jingrong Startup Hub in the Chengdu Hi-tech Zone was designated as the core part for the platform, becoming the first hi-tech maker space involving international innovation and entrepreneurship in China.