Bases built to develop IT powerhouse
By Chen Zhiming (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-29 08:56

The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) officially announced yesterday the establishment of nine State electronic information industry bases, in an effort to further boost the industry.

"It is a milestone for China to set up these bases, which are strategically important for the development of China into an international IT powerhouse," said MII Minister Wang Xudong yesterday in Beijing.

"It is also an attempt by the government to further standardize and promote regional development," he said.

The base will feature large-scale electronic information industry, highly competitive in research and development; a clustering of competitive enterprises and a complete industrial chain and related services.

These factors can be reflected in seven major areas such as sales revenue, industrial output, number of key enterprises and comprehensive ability in research and development.

The bases are located in Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, coastal areas of Fuzhou and Xiamen, and the Pearl River Delta.

Government figures show that sales revenue, industrial output, profits and taxes, and exports of the nine cities and areas accounted for 81.9 per cent, 75.7 per cent, 74.4 per cent and 82.6 per cent of the nation's total, respectively.

At the same time, these cities and regions are also places which host foreign investment and research and development centres of the State.

"To enhance the competitiveness of these cities and regions will be of paramount importance for us to realize our target of becoming an electronic information powerhouse," said Wang Jianzhang, director of the Comprehensive Planning Department of the MII.

Government figures showed that China's electronic information industry has progressed by leaps and bounds over the past two decades.

The industry accomplished a sales volume of 1.88 trillion yuan (US$226.5 billion) last year, reaping industrial added value of 400 billion yuan (US$48.2 billion), accounting for about 4 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).

The industry also fulfilled exports of US$142.1 billion, accounting for 32.4 per cent of the nation's total.

Last year, there were eight firms whose sales surpassed 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) and one exceeded 70 billion yuan (US$8.4 billion).

"Nevertheless, our electronic information products are still low-end in the international market," Wang said.

"Lack of key technology and weak competitiveness have become major hurdles for the development of the industry," he said.

Wang said the bases would be one of the key starting measures for China to catch up with other developed countries.

"Because of the globalization of the world economy, we should also enhance technology innovation, and co-operation between provinces to hammer out a sound development environment," he said.

Meanwhile, the MII is to provide further support to the bases by seeking support from other government sectors, Wang said.

The ministry started to prepare for the bases in late 2001.

Analysts believe that the bases will help China to cultivate an environment for the birth of more self-owned and leading technologies, which is a key for China to become competitive.

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