Employees work at a chip company in Binhu, Wuxi. [Photo/WeChat account: wxbhfb]

Binhu district in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province has made further progress in its innovation-driven development in the first half of 2022.

The output of the district's high-tech sector reached 30.71 billion yuan ($4.47 billion) from January to June, up 15.3 percent year-on-year and accounting for 76.3 percent of the output of Binhu's companies above designated scale.

The district is presently home to 547 high-tech companies. The thirty-three research institutes and research and development facilities in Binhu paid 200 million yuan in taxes during the first six months of this year, an increase of 6 percent compared to 2021.

Binhu's life sciences and healthcare industry generated 7.35 billion yuan in sales during the same period, a year-on-year rise of 9.4 percent. Seventeen new companies involved in the industry were registered in the district.

Meanwhile, 170 companies from Binhu's integrated circuit sector generated 5.2 billion yuan in business revenue, a 29.1 percent year-on-year growth. Binhu aims to increase the annual output of this sector to 15 billion yuan by 2025.

Binhu has been making concerted efforts to attract high-tech projects and talents. For example, the district has held several entrepreneurship contests, signed cooperation agreements with tech companies, and promoted its preferential policies. Authorities are planning to build 1 million square meters of office space for innovative companies in 2022, as well as set up offices in cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen to attract projects to Binhu.

Binhu has also implemented a series of measures, such as conducting training sessions via live-streaming and forming special work groups, to improve services for high-tech companies.