Zhuhai ranked 10th among 288 cities in terms of sci-tech innovation & development in 2021. It is one of only two prefecture-level cities along with Suzhou to be among the top 10 cities, according to the 2021 index for Sci-Tech Innovation & Development Report of Chinese Cities released recently.

The list was compiled by the Capital Institute of Science & Technology Development Strategy. The outcomes are based on evaluation of the cities' sci-tech innovation capacity including innovation resources, environment, service, and performance.

Rendering of Nanping Science & Technology Industrial Park [File photo by Zhao Zi / Zhuhai Daily]

Zhuhai remained firm in the implementation of its innovation-driven development strategy over the years. Local R&D expenditure accounted for 3.26 percent of the city's GDP and the number of national companies exceeded 2,100. Its biomedical industrial cluster was listed among China's first batch of strategic emerging industrial cluster development projects while the industrial scale of integrated circuit design ranks second in Guangdong province. 

Zhuhai's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) on Sci-tech Innovation laid out a blueprint for its sci-tech innovation development. The city's comprehensive innovation capacity will be remarkably improved by 2025 and local innovation ecosystem will be further optimized. 

It will be a pioneer in the demonstration of breaking institutional barriers to the free flow of innovation factors as well as the opening up and sharing of innovation resources. Local economic development is to gradually be driven by talent and innovation rather than other factors.

Zhuhai will strive to become a national innovation city, sci-tech innovation center on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary, an important node in the Guangzhou-Zhuhai-Macao Scientific & Technological Innovation Corridor, and innovation highland in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Other top 10 cities are Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Xi'an.