Wuhan Future City of the Optics Valley of China, Wuhan, Hubei province. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

Central China's Hubei province will expedite steps to build its capital, Wuhan, into a nationally influential sci-tech innovation center this year, according to a recently released document.

Current development plans will mainly revolve around five aspects – building East Lake Science City, encouraging original and leading technologies, cultivating major industrial clusters in the Optics Valley Sci-tech Corridor, forming multi-dimensional and high-level open cooperation networks, and creating an innovation ecosystem with international competence.

Hubei proposed that in creating the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as the Optics Valley of China, or OVC) with the global influence, modern industrialization should be a crucial engine to lead industrial transformation and upgrading. More efforts will be made to foster two of OVC's pillar industrial clusters – electronic information and life and health.

Wuhan is expected to boost coordination with international sci-tech innovation centers in Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as well as regional sci-tech innovation hubs in Xi'an and the Chengdu-Chongqing area.

Last year, Hubei's comprehensive sci-tech innovation ranking jumped to seventh place in China, and according to the 2023 Global Innovation Index, issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization, Wuhan had been selected among the world's top 15 cities in terms of sci-tech innovation clusters.