Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone
The Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone (Hefei High-tech Zone) was in the first batch of State-level high-tech zones ratified by the State Council in 1991. It is the core area of the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, “USTC Innovation Valley”, and the Hefei Area of China (Anhui) Pilot Free Trade Zone. It has achieved numerous honors, including being named National Innovation Demonstration Zone, and National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Demonstration Base. Hefei high-tech zone retains a top 10 position among all 177 national high-tech zones for consecutive 9 years. In 2022, the Hefei High-tech Zone’s GDP reached RMB 131.4 billion, which rose 4.3% over the previous year. The total import and export volume reached 8 billion US dollars, which increased 10.6% over the previous year.
High-end Industrial System
The Hefei High-tech Zone has formed high-end industrial clusters including AI, Integrated circuits, Quantum information, Internet security, Biomedicine, Energy-Saving and Environmental protection. “China Speech Valley” is the first National Industries Cluster of China focused in AI. In the industrial field of Quantum information, the Hefei High-tech Zone has incubated QuantumCTek, Origin Quantum and CIQTEK, all of them are established by renowned scientists from USTC.
Gathering of High-quality Enterprises
The Hefei High-tech Zone has gathered more than 70 thousand enterprises with more than 2500 national high-tech enterprises and independently cultivated 39 listed companies, 76 incubators with more than 6500 enterprises under incubation. Many world-famous enterprises, such as Continental, 3M, Edscha, NSK and Kobayashi, etc. choose to develop in the Hefei High-tech Zone.
Convenient Transportation
Hefei is called as “Clock-like high-speed railway hub” and can arrive at important cities，such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xiamen, Changsha, etc. in 1-4 hours; Hongkong in 6 hours by “Donggan Railway”. Hefei can also handle 12 million passengers by the 4E class Xinqiao Intl Airport annually.
Abundant Scientific and Educational Resources Hefei has over 60 universities, such as USTC, one of the best universities in China. Hefei high-tech zone has also set up more than 240 provincial-level research platforms, 69 postdoctoral workstations and had over 4700 high level talents accredited by Hefei Municipal Government or above.
Excellent business environment
The investment promotion team of the Hefei High-tech Zone can communicate fluently with foreign-funded enterprises. Our zone also has a dedicated project service team, which assists enterprises in investment approval, environmental protection approval, energy-saving evaluation, project construction application, etc. We put up foreign investment policies and reward enterprises with a certain proportion of the foreign direct investment (FDI). We give citizen treatment to foreign talents in innovation and entrepreneurship, and provide one-stop， all-inclusive legal services for foreign-funded enterprises.
“USTC Innovation Valley”
The newly established “USTC Innovation Valley” is a cradle of S&T innovation and a demonstration industry cluster of emerging technologies. It focuses on the transformation of innovations, the incubation of innovative enterprises and the optimization of innovation ecosystem, and seeks to attract global innovative talents and emphasize the leading role of S&T and institutional innovation via alumni from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and other world-class higher education institutions. The initial plan envisions a functional area that consists of one core area, two industrial parks and a town. The Hefei High-tech Zone occupies over 90% of the area of the “USTC Innovation Valley”.
The Global Innovation Center of the “USTC Innovation Valley” seeks to carrying out S&T achievement transformation, implementing key and core scientific projects, introducing high-end talents and technologies, and other innovation and entrepreneurship activities, which contribute to the development of the “USTC Innovation Valley”. By 2025, more innovation centers will be built in batches in developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Israel, and Japan, facilitating the “USTC Innovation Valley” to grow into a world-renowned innovation valley in the future.
