Nanotech, an Industry of Future (IV)

A Nano-city Forges the Future of SIP

Only in pursuit of breakthroughs in key and competitive industries can unique "know-how" be acquired in competition; only in concentration of resources and energies can heavy blows be landed.

The "fist" of developing nano-tech industry in Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) is now aggregating and presenting thrusts. In the Jiangsu Speeding-up the Development of New-emerging Industry Conference held in Nanjing on June 28, Mr. Yan Li, Mayor of Suzhou, said, "Suzhou will not repeat work in the fields others have explored, but mainly in the new-emerging industries with nano-tech as the breakthrough. In the future, when talking about nano-tech, people will invariably think of Suzhou."
A "Nano-city " forges the future of SIP.

Doubling growth in the scale of nano-tech industry

In recent years, taking the key opportunity of the support of Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Ministry of Commerce and Jiangsu provincial government for SIP to build the China Nano-tech Innovation Park (CHInano) and the joint construction of the CAS Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics (SINANO) by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Jiangsu and Suzhou, nano-tech industry in the park started from scratch and has experienced a rapid growth, with output growth of 110% in 2009, compared with that in 2008. From January to June this year, the output value increased 50% compared with the corresponding period of last year. While industrialization is now under rapid development, China Nano-tech Industry Innovation Base is also accelerating its formation.

 Rapid industrialization is related to ever-concentrating of industrial resources. With Biobay as the key carrier, a professional investment promotion team has been established, with intensified efforts to choose investments and introduce R&D institutions, research teams and cutting-edge projects. At present, nano-related output value in Biobay is increasing and in the meantime, 50-odd nano-tech enterprises and 10-odd nano-related research institutes and labs have been set up, represented by which SINANO, Dongnan University and University of Science and Technology of China(USTC), forming a preliminary development deployment with nano- photoelectron, micro-nano manufacture, nano bio-medicine and nano environmental treatment as its core.

At the same time, enormous amount of capital is invested to establish a batch of functional platforms to support the development of nano-tech, which optimizes the technology and innovation service, and lowers the threshold of industry access, forming a nano-tech test, process and engineering platform of Jiangsu, based on SINANO.

The most crucial factor is that a number of outstanding talents in the nano-tech industry are now working in the park: Taking the opportunity of the SIP Leading Technological Talents project, SIP aims to attract innovative and creative talents at home and abroad, and more than 2,000 talents engaged in nano-tech R&D and industrialization have gathered in SIP, in which there are 14 of the "Hundred Talents Program" of CAS, 2 academicians, 3 of the National Thousand Talents Program, and 19 of the leading talents in SIP. Funds granted for the talents and scientific programs are over 200 million yuan and the applications for patents are now over 300.

Forging the first nano-tech industry park in China

SIP is now in the key stage of transition to lead a second wave of industrial growth. In order to accelerate the development of nano-tech industry and speed up the growth, a battle of transition and upgrading with the development of nano-tech industry as its theme is launched in the park, the strategy of which is: aiming at the top-ranking talents and leading technology of nano-tech industry at home and abroad, concentrate the energy, resources and policy to drive the nano-tech industry to a cutting-edge and clustering transition. With unconventional measures and methods, accelerate the pace to forge the first nano-tech industry park in China, while seizing the commanding height of the industry and cultivating new economic growth points.

And this battle was made known to the world in the 5th Sino-US Nano Forum held on June 5: 10 billion yuan is invested and 2,500 thousand square meters of innovation carrier and industry base has been built, forming a "Nano Scientific Valley" covering innovation, incubation and industrialization, which brings along a 50 billion yuan industry investment; several national and provincial key labs and engineering technology centers are built, forming a number of pioneering industry technology fields and competitive innovation products; top-ranking innovation talents such as academicians at home and abroad in the nano-tech related fields, "Thousand Talents Program", Jiangsu Double Innovation Talents, Suzhou Leading Talents, Yangtze Scholars, "Hundred Talents Program" are introduced into SIP; scale intensive nano-tech enterprises are introduced and cultivated, and a complete industry chain is being established, forming a ten-billion-level nano-tech industry group which brings along hundred billion-level of output value to related industries.

The battle is specifically aimed: to realize the "double growth" of nano-tech industry (enterprise, output value, middle and top-ranking talents) in three years, to forge the park into a top-ranking center of nano-tech enterprises, talents and investments at home and abroad in five years, a leading strategic hotbed of nano-tech innovation and a nano-tech industrialization base with greatest technical strength and largest industrial scale.

Let's wait and see the future of nano-tech in SIP.

August 4, 2010

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