Speeding up the modernization of agriculture and rural areas

Tai'an will stick to the rural revitalization strategy and make a solid foundation for all-around rural rejuvenation and the modernization of agriculture.

Construction of the Taishan District National Modern Agriculture Industrial Park, the Xintai Provincial Modern Agriculture Industrial Park, the Wenyangtian Modern Agriculture Industrial Park, and the provincial agricultural science and technology park in Tai'an Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone will be accelerated to promote food production in the region.

The city will adjust and optimize its agricultural structure. It will accelerate its cultivation of green agricultural products, including Mount Tai tea, Feicheng mahogany, Mount Tai cherry, Taishan jade, Ningyang Chinese dates, and Xintai lilies, and strive to create an industry worth more than 1 billion yuan.

The building of high-quality agricultural brands will be also strengthened so that by the end of 2019, the number of brands at or above the provincial level will total 25.

Besides, Tai'an will lay emphasis on implementing programs to improve the skills and competitive abilities of farmers. A multi-level network of training will be formed step by step in the region.

The city supports the return of talents to their hometown villages for innovation and entrepreneurship. Relevant policies will be improved.

The rural living environment improvement initiative, such as garbage and sewage treatment and renovation of toilets, will be continued. It is expected that by the end of 2019, there will be 28 new provincial-level demonstrative villages through the Beautiful Villages project in the city, and roads totaling 1,000 kilometers in length will be built in the rural areas of the city.

Attracting more investment and talents

Tai'an will give priority to investment and talent attraction, which are of great importance to the city's conversion of old and new growth drivers and the development of its economy.

The city will further its cooperation with Fortune Global 500 companies, renowned transnational enterprises and centrally administered State-owned enterprises to introduce advanced technologies and high-level talents. The annual International Mount Tai Climbing Festival, as a platform for investment and cooperation, will be given full play to.

Tai'an will also strengthen cooperation and exchanges with renowned domestic universities, like Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and Beihang University, and teams of experts will promote scientific and technological innovation and cultivate more high-skilled talents. Relevant policies will also be implemented to attract more high-level talents.

It is expected that by the end of 2019, there will be 10 industrial technology research institutes coming into operation in the city, and the number of industrial technology research institutes with enterprises as the main bodies will exceed 300. A number of "gazelle" companies and "hidden champions" will also be cultivated in the city by the end of 2019.

A gazelle company, a term coined by US economist David Birch in the 1990s, describes a typically small publicly traded company having an annual growth rate of 20 percent or more in sales revenue from startup. The term "hidden champions" refers to relatively small but highly successful companies that rely on innovation and quality upgrading and gain competitive strength through technological advances.

Protection of intellectual property rights will be strengthened in Tai'an to boost inventions and innovations, as well as their transformation and application.