The Poly International Center. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

The Poly International Center, located on Guanshan Avenue, East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China, or OVC), is 170 meters high and generated 15 billion yuan ($2.12 billion) of revenue, as well as 2 billion yuan of taxes last year.

The center has been home to 40 internet giants, Fortune 500 companies, and listed firms in the past five years. Meanwhile, a number of start-up businesses have also been incubated there.

The lifestyle-sharing platform Xiaohongshu is one of these companies. At present, our Wuhan-based staff number has risen from 200 to more than 5,000, and our sales increased by five times," said Tao Yun, the Xiaohongshu Wuhan headquarters manager.

In 2017, Xiaohongshu's founder returned from Shanghai to his hometown Wuhan to establish a business and finally decided to move into the center. Now its business is expanding quickly, and the company has established R&D centers, platform operation bases, supporting departments, and team efficiency teams there.

There are 22 digital economy corporations in the building, in fields of the Internet of things, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and big data, and they produced 2.2 billion yuan of sales in 2022.

As one of the earliest inhabitants of the center, Wuhan Weipai Network Technology Co focuses on developing internet games and social interaction products. "We often exchange opinions with each other. Weipai has something we can learn from," said Tan Qian, CEO of Zhongchuan Interactive (Hubei) Information Technology Co. The two companies are neighbors.

According to Tan, an entrepreneur, he doesn't feel lonely while working with many renowned enterprises. On the contrary, he feels heavier responsibilities on his shoulder.

The center's construction area is nearly 60,000 square meters, and about 10,000 people work there. It is not easy to serve such a significant population.

The self-service government service hall on the first floor operates around the clock, enabling people in the building to handle over 300 items without traveling far.

Additionally, the corporate service center has also been put into use recently, offering roadshow livestream platforms, reception rooms, digital reading spaces, and other public facilities, and providing more development possibilities for local firms.