Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Zhuhai's integrated circuit design industry witnessed an outstanding growth last year with a year-on-year increase of 28.8 percent, leading to a 21.3 percent increase in the city's software and information service totaling 75.6 billion yuan ($11.8 billion) in 2017.  

The growth momentum has in fact been maintained by the Guangdong city in South China for the past five years.

According to a recent report issued by the Zhuhai Science, Technology, Industry, Trade & Information Technology Bureau and the city association for software business, the industry has achieved accelerated development by achieving an average annual growth rate of 21.6 percent from 2013 to 2017.

Actions (Zhuhai) Technology, a domestic leading integrated circuit designer, attracts attention at various exhibitions and expos. [Photo courtesy WeChat account (ID:ActionsTech)]

In 2017, there were 65 companies whose main business revenue exceeded 100 million yuan ($15.6 million) including eight new ones. In terms of revenue, Kingsoft Software ranked first for five consecutive years, followed by Zhuhai Xiaomi Communications and Zhuhai Meizu Technology. They have benefited tremendously from government support and increasing R & D expense. The total investment on technology research in the industry grew by 28.3 percent year-on-year to 5.4 billion yuan ($845 million) last year.

Currently, the city houses many organizations dedicated to improving the software and information industry, including 31 engineering centers above the provincial level, 24 technical centers, and one national key laboratory.

A major driving force, integrated circuit (chip) design is one of the key industries prioritized in Zhuhai. More than 50 industry players, represented by Actions (Zhuhai) Technology and Allwinner Technology, gained 4.69 billion yuan ($734 million) in main business revenue last year, jumping 28.8 percent from the same period over the previous year. The production scale is among the top ten around the country.

Southern Software Park in Zhuhai assembles a group of competitive IT companies. [Photo by Cheng Lin / Zhuhai Daily]

Aiming to reach an internationally competitive level, Zhuhai is taking steps to promote the development of the information technology industry towards the goal of generating 135 billion yuan ($21.1 billion) in total production value by 2021, based on average annual growth rate of 12 percent.

Focus will be put on cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and intelligent hardware, as well as SOC chips, communications chips, and security chips for industrial, financial, and electric uses, according to the government report.