The main part of the "USTC Silicon Valley" is located in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

East China's Anhui province recently issued an implementation plan for the construction of the "USTC (University of Science and Technology of China) Silicon Valley".

The plan proposes that by 2035, the "USTC Silicon Valley" will become an innovation hub with important international influence, a source of scientific and technological innovation, and a cluster of emerging industries.

By 2025, the valley is expected to gather more than 100,000 talented people, form a multi-level fund system with a fund scale of over 200 billion yuan ($29.86 billion), gather more than 10,000 technology-based enterprises, new R&D institutions, and science and technology service institutions, and cultivate 1,000 high-tech enterprises and more than 50 listed companies and unicorns, according to the plan.

The initial spatial layout of the "USTC Silicon Valley" is expected to consist of the Core Area, the High-tech Area, the Shushan Area and iFlytek Town, which will cover 8.22 square kilometers in total.

The Core Area, High-tech Area and iFlytek Town are located in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the total area.

The plan also includes student entrepreneurs. It states that university students in the province are allowed to retain their academic status for a certain period of time while they take a break to start their own businesses in the valley, and can still enjoy the university's entrepreneurial resources and services.

The 2021 Anhui government work report listed improving scientific and technological innovation capability as a priority and proposed building the "USTC Silicon Valley" for the first time to achieve this goal.

USTC is a major source of sci-tech innovations in Hefei. By building the "USTC Silicon Valley", the provincial and the municipal government and the university will cooperate to support USTC teachers and alumni to start businesses and incubate their sci-tech achievements in USTC's surrounding areas.

The Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone and USTC have been benefiting from mutual cooperation for years. Many USTC talents became tech entrepreneurs in the zone after being drawn to its business environment, and their innovative successes have transformed the zone into a high-tech industrial cluster with distinctive competitiveness.

The "USTC Silicon Valley" Core Area is located around Zhongan Chuanggu Technology Park in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]