The Weifang Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone is encouraging companies to partner with leading research and development institutes to strengthen their technological innovation capabilities.

Weifang Wanlong Electric Co Ltd, a traditional electrical products manufacturer in the zone, on April 3 joined forces with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to launch a new institute aimed at speeding up its work on thermoacoustics — a type of energy generation using heat to create sound, and sound to create electricity — and the commercialization of that technology.

On the same day, Wanlong also obtained 1 million yuan ($156,156) in funding from the zone to support its recruitment plans for the institute.

It is not the first time a firm has partnered with the CAS to boost its innovation. With support from the zone, Wanlong set up a joint venture company in 2016 with the academy to focus on developing electroacoustic technologies.

Liu Lin, chairman of Wanlong, revealed that the company has reached a preliminary agreement with China's leading home appliance maker Haier to supply five million units of thermoacoustic refrigerators to Haier. Currently, Haier is undertaking reliability tests of Wanlong's products.