A view of Hefei high-tech zone, which ranks seventh out of 169 national high-tech zones in China in 2022. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

Covering just 1.1 percent of the land in Hefei city, in East China's Anhui province, people often ask how Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone managed to achieve 11 percent of the city's GDP.

With industrial development increasingly constrained by the limited availability of land, Hefei high-tech zone has maneuvered its way to using the space more efficiently, while also accelerating moves to put in place a system for reusing inefficient land and replacing low-efficiency companies.

An artist's impression of the 80-mu land to be used by a PV company in Hefei high-tech zone. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

As a case in point, Hefei high-tech zone recently signed an agreement with an influential photovoltaic enterprise, which has targeted annual added-value of 1.6 billion yuan by making use of 80 mu (5.33 hectares) of land there.

That means each mu is expected to reach an output value of 20 million yuan – 400 times of its original output.

To top it off, the zone carried out detailed research and comprehensive surveys to better understand the real land-use situation, while also creating "health check" and "land steward" systems.

Under these, the zone not only supervises and forewarns resident companies of the operational risks they may face but also introduces third-party services to resolve land problems.