High-tech zone facilitates IT development

Phase III of Chengdu Tianfu Software Park. Provided to China Daily

City on the way to becoming a core growth pole of western part of China

In the southern outskirts of Chengdu, numerous skyscrapers have sprouted from the land, whose residents include world-famous high-tech companies such as Dell Inc, Texas Instruments Inc and Symantec Corp.

Fu Qiang, a local taxi driver, said that within just three years, the previously rural area had transformed into part of the fast growing Chengdu Hi-Tech Zone, which is home to more than 5,000 businesses.

"The area developed so fast that it is increasingly unrecognizable to me," said Fu, who has spent all his life there.

Approved by the State Council, or China's cabinet, in 1991, the zone was one of the first to be designated by the State as a high-tech industrial development zone.

The zone's development really started to pick up three or four years ago, when multinationals and local companies set up branches one after another. New high-rises were erected, an expanding road network connected it with downtown Chengdu, and tens of thousands of skilled workers, software engineers and overseas managers flocked in.

"It is like a garden. You water and fertilize the plants in it, and they grow fast," said Tang Jiqiang, director of the zone's strategic development planning bureau.

Tang said the zone is now home to around 100 Fortune 500 companies, as well as another 2,000 micro, small and medium-sized high-tech companies.

Although the presence of industry heavyweights is very important to the zone, Tang said he pays more attention to the micro, small and medium-sized companies, as many of them have great growth potential.

"We have to cultivate them carefully, like taking care of babies," Tang said.

Numerous measures were taken to support these "babies", including initial free rental of office space, and subsidies to investors.

This year, an 80 million yuan ($12.8 million) special government fund was set up to offer capital to SMEs that venture capital firms are reluctant to invest in.

New face of Chengdu

The zone is a microcosm, and a new face of Chengdu, traditionally a commercial city and now one on the way to becoming a modern industrial city and an important growth pole of the western China.

From January to October, the output of enterprises above designated scale in Chengdu surged 16.9 percent to 189.67 billion yuan ($30.15 billion), according to the Chengdu Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

By comparison, the output of enterprises above designated scale across China grew 10 percent over the same period.

The total profit of these enterprises reached 35.59 billion yuan, up 18.3 percent from a year ago, while the national average was minus 3.1 percent.

One of the reasons for Chengdu's rapid industrial growth was that its base number was lower compared to coastal areas, so it's easier to realize a fast growth rate, said an official from the commission, who declined to be named.

Another reason was that inland areas were slower to be hit by the global economic downturn, said the official.

He said that the city's strategic location in western China, its improved infrastructure, relatively cheaper labor and land costs, and abundant talent pool were among the reasons for its rapid growth.

"Enterprises are clever. They come where the costs are the lowest," said the official.