To promote high-quality development and foster emerging industries and future industries, the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone – located in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province – has acted decisively.

It's purposefully moved away from solely attracting investment projects, to focus on domestic and foreign research institutions which enable more technological innovations to be applied in industrial purposes and which enhance its overall sustainable development.

A panoramic view of the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone. [Photo/gxq.hefei.gov.cn]

Since the start of the year, the zone has established key connections with over 30 domestic universities and research institutions. It has also collaborated on more than 300 scientific and technological achievements from national key universities and institutes.

"The development experience of Silicon Valley in the United States indicates that it has nurtured a group of world-class high-tech leading enterprises over various periods," said Song Daojun, Party secretary and director of the zone's administrative committee.

"They succeed not just because of investment attraction, but the gathering of many research institutions and other innovative resources and the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into productivity," Song added.

Many technical achievements and breakthroughs from the Hefei-based University of Science and Technology of China have settled in the high-tech zone.

With the launch of the zone's "source technology prospecting" plan, many innovative achievements have transitioned from the lab to the market.