On May 21, Beijing Capital Land (BCL) and Zhongguancun Development Group signed a contract for jointly building the Zhongguancun Integrated Circuit (IC) Design Industrial Park to accelerate the growth of IC industry and to center China’s economy on high-end industries. The signing ceremony was held in the International Convention Center, Zhongguancun Software Park. The cooperation will enable the two parties to well combine their resources in talent, technologies, capital and land, as well as their efforts in innovation to jointly build, with support of favorable government policies, the Zhongguancun IC Design Industrial Park into a high-end economic demonstration zone in Beijing.

Present at the ceremony were Zhu Yan, Deputy Secretary General of the Beijing Municipal Government; Yu Jun, Acting Mayor of Haidian District, and CPC Secretary and Chairman of Zhongguancun Development Group; Wang Hao, CPC Secretary and Chairman of BCL; Xu Qiang, CPC Deputy Secretary and President of Zhongguancun Development Group; Wang Rufang, Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of Zhongguancun Science Park; Jiang Susheng, CPC Deputy Secretary and Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of Zhongguancun Development Group; Tang Jun, BCL President, and other government and corporate leaders and representatives from the IC industry.

Building a High-end Economic Demonstration Zone

Following the release of the plan for a coordinated development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province, Beijing is set on its course to shift the focus of economic development to high-end industries and the service sector. At the same time, achievement has been made in developing Beijing into an economy of agglomeration, convergence and low carbon emission, and a preliminary high-end economic structure is emerging. As China’s first national innovation demonstration zone, Zhongguancun is a major contributor to promoting a high-end industry-centered economy in Beijing. With its leading position in technological innovation nationwide, it can be expected to play a similar focal role in China’s pursuit of high-end economic structure in the future.

The Zhongguancun IC Design Industrial Park is planned to be a key component of the Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone and the research and high-tech industrial cluster in Northern China. Upon completion, it will serve as a comprehensive industrial park specializing in IC design, the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing and software development, with a large number of research centers inside.

Located in Zhongguancun Yongfeng Industrial Base, close to BCL’s recently purchased premium land plot in Haidian District, the Zhongguancun IC Design Industrial Park to be built with a joint investment of 4 billion RMB will cover a total construction area of over 200,000 m², comprising a section for company headquarters, an IC incubator, an IC design service section, and supporting facilities such as commercial services and serviced apartments for professionals. Aiming to become a world-class IC design industrial park, a new incubator cluster and a complete industrial service system/platform will be set up to attract top-notch IC professionals, firms and teams from across the world. With IC design at its core, the Park will incorporate the concept of Internet plus in its operation and extend its business to related fields, including the Internet of Things, cloud computing and IT security to form an extensive IT ecosystem that will facilitate the coordinated innovation between IC design and relevant areas such as the Internet of Things.

The project is estimated to take three years and 4 billion RMB in investment. The completed park is expected to attract 80 to 100 IC design companies, which have the potential of achieving 10 billion RMB worth of annual production and 1 billion RMB in tax revenue, producing over 500 intellectual property filings annually, and creating approximately 20,000 jobs for highly competent professionals. The park is well positioned to become a high-end economic demonstration zone in Beijing.

According to Mr. Zhu Yan, Beijing has indeed reached a new stage of development where the choice of industries becomes more challenging and demanding. This requires the municipal leadership to have an international perspective in order to choose the right industry that will guide the development of other industries in the city. With the vision to pursue a high-end economic structure, we have finally decided on the IC industry, which has seen remarkable achievement made over the past year. In this sense, it is not just another real estate or industrial project. Rather, it will enhance the soft power of Haidian District as well as Beijing as a whole. As noted by industrial analysts, following years of development, an industrial cluster has already taken shape in Zhongguancun, especially its core area, featured by a significant number of industrial alliances, incubators and outstanding IC design firms, including Spreadtrum Communications, Ingenic, Tongfang Microelectronics Company, Datang Microeletronics Technology, GigaDevice, NARI Technology, CHIPONE and IC Café.

BCL Responsive to the Call of Mass Innovation through Powerful Cooperation

In response to the call of “Popular Entrepreneurship and Mass Innovation” now as China’s national strategy, BCL, a large state-owned enterprise group directly under the supervision of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the Beijing Municipality, is making active efforts to play an exemplary role as a responsible SOE in the development of high-end economy in Beijing by achieving technological advantages in mass innovation.

Upholding its vision of being the most valued real estate operator in China, BCL is one of the first real estate operators in China to have achieved the vertical value chain integration. The company is committed to comprehensive development by diversifying its business into housing development, outlet and city complex operation, and industrial park development. To fulfill its mission of “creating new urban life,” BCL provides all-embracing services for its customers.

Zhongguancun Development Group is a major SOE founded with support of the Beijing Municipal Government to further accelerate the development of the Zhongguancun Demonstration District, enhance city-level coordination and achieve market-oriented resource allocation. Focusing on the high-end economic development, the Group facilitates the growth of medium, small and micro tech firms and has successfully created model industrial parks including the Zhongguancun Software Park, the Zhongguancun Life Science Park, and the Zhongguancun High-end Medical Equipment Industrial Park.

The construction of the IC design industrial park will feature a powerful cooperation between BCL, which is strong in building urban functional zones and providing comprehensive operation and services, and Zhongguancun Development Group, which excels in industrial park planning and industrial structuring. This powerful cooperation is expected to set a leading example for other SOEs in their efforts to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.

"As a Beijing-based city builder serving the whole country, BCL is solidly equipped with top-tier caliber and strong capabilities of marshalling top resources. Zhongguancun Development Group, on the other hand, is the trailblazer of high-end economic park development in Beijing. Such power combination enables the two to pool their resources together," noted an industrial analyst. "BCL will further explore the industrial and sci-tech real estate markets by tapping into Zhongguancun Development Group’s strength in industrial organization and service while the latter will advance the integration of the IC industry by relying on the former's economies of scale in comprehensive development."