District to build on reputation for housing innovative business

Laoshan district, one of the most dynamic areas for innovation and entrepreneurship in Shandong province, is building a central innovation area to maximize its potential.

There are nearly 100 national, provincial and city-level key labs and technical institutions in the district, along with almost 200 high-tech companies.

Laoshan's high-tech sector generated output value of 38.9 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) last year, increasing 2.6 percent from 2015 and accounting for 82.2 percent of its total industrial output value.

Also in 2016, individuals and organizations in the district were granted a total of more than 1,500 invention patents, raising the number of valid invention patents held in the district to 5,509.

At the same time, 321 international patent applications were filed via the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

On average, each 10,000 residents in the district own 128 invention patents, more than any other city in the province.

The local government has introduced a range of measures, including preferential policies, and has promoted the development of technical financing services to attract more skilled professionals.

Among the measures is the establishment of a technical innovation committee with integrated innovation resources and personnel from industrial zones, associations and service providers.

It also encourages the development of makerspaces, where startup teams share infrastructure to grow their businesses.

Nearly 100 projects have been attracted to the four makerspaces in the Qingdao Startup Way, and 70 percent of them are involved in internet and high-tech businesses. Around 40 of the projects were added in January.

In order to attract top international talent, the government has drawn up plans for the Qingdao Academician and Experts Innovation Pioneer Park, which has already attracted six senior experts and their related projects.

Jiang Duntao, Party chief of Laoshan, said the park is designed to introduce research teams led by academicians and other top experts from both China and overseas, and will focus on a number of strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials and biomedicines.

One foreign expert who has been attracted to the park is Sidiakna Galina from Russia, who has developed a method of extracting gold using biotechnology.

"We will build an innovation-friendly environment for the high-end international personnel in the park," Jiang said. "The park will lead the city's future industrial development."