A night scene at the Xiamen Torch Development Zone for High Technology Industries. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Sound environment with innovative talent

The high-tech zone launched two service platforms for financing and smart manufacturing in October to help companies promote technical reform, as well as to enhance the efficiency of financing, while reduce costs.

"Thanks to the zone's service platform, companies can learn about preferential policies and choose financial products in a quick manner that's like shopping in a supermarket," said Jiang Wei, manager of the finance department of Xiamen Lenz Communication Co, which was recently granted 10 million yuan in credit by Xiamen Bank.

Over the years, the zone has been working to provide targeted services to companies in aspects like personnel, capital and land, aiming to create a sound environment for innovative development.

By 2020, the zone had been home to more than 10,000 businesses, topping all development zones in Fujian province.

About 200,000 people are currently working in the zone, including more than 1,500 who are included in talent programs at the municipal level and above.

Xiamen Torch University, a new talent enhancement initiative of the zone, was established on May 9, aiming to promote innovation and industrial upgrading by closely combining education and research with the actual needs of companies located in the zone.

The university has the potential to not only lift the industrial capability of Xiamen, but spur economic development in other parts of China and even other BRICS economies, said Leslie Maasdorp, vice-president of the Shanghai-based New Development Bank, on the sidelines of the establishment ceremony of Xiamen Torch University.

He said that its experience in nurturing talent and promoting innovation could provide strategies that can be replicated elsewhere, while training materials used here can be shared with other regions in a virtual format.

While celebrating its milestone 30th anniversary, the high-tech zone has set goals for its future development. It aims to become a first-class sci-tech zone with clout in the Asia-Pacific region and a demonstration area for cooperation between BRICS countries in emerging industries by 2035.

It is also expected to build world-class industrial chains in the electronic information industry, as well as become a major platform for exchanges between countries and regions along the Maritime Silk Road.