An aerial view of the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

After 10 years of development, the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, has recently been dubbed as the Hefei version of Zhongguancun, a Beijing-based technology hub that is often considered to be the Silicon Valley of China.

Over the past decade, the zone has ranked in the top 10 among the 169 national high-tech zones across China for eight consecutive years. The number of national-level high-tech enterprises in the zone increased from 302 to 2,000 and the number of listed companies in the zone grew from 14 to 34.

There are a total of 77 enterprises with national-level research and development institutions in the zone, ranking second in the country after Zhongguancun.

Statistics indicate that in the past decade, the zone's main economic indicators have grown rapidly. Its regional GDP increased from 33.7 billion yuan ($4.7 billion) in 2012 to 125.27 billion yuan in 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 15.7 percent. The total output value of industries above designated size increased from 79 billion yuan to 220 billion yuan, an average annual increase of 12.1 percent.

In 2021, the zone's total import and export volume was $7.23 billion, 4.8 times that of 2012, with an average annual growth rate of 19.1 percent.

Hefei Software Park in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]