{"id":8159,"date":"2021-07-15T07:00:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T07:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=8159"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:52:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:52:16","slug":"chinas-silicon-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/chinas-silicon-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Are these ‘Science Cities’ set to be China’s Silicon Valley?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Greater Bay Area\u2019s response to the need for high-quality basic research institutions is to build them, with four clusters of scientific institutions in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Cuiheng now emerging \u2013 here’s what to expect<\/h2>\n

When it comes to technology, Guangdong is known for designing, building and selling things. However, there is a step before all of that in the tech industry\u2019s value chain, and it is a step in which the province has traditionally been lagging. Beijing and Shanghai have long had an edge in basic scientific research, given the prevalence of leading universities in both cities focused on exactly this.<\/p>\n

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Still, Guangdong is not lacking in academic spirit or ambition. There are a number of well-established innovation hubs in Guangdong, such as Guangzhou\u2019s \u201cScience City,\u201d which is home to some of the world\u2019s biggest R&D-focused corporate names, or Shenzhen\u2019s Nanshan Science and Technology Park, which hosts some of China\u2019s biggest tech brands. At the core of the Greater Bay Area master plan is the ambitious \u201c10 hubs\u201d plan to build China\u2019s answer to Silicon Valley, known as the Science and Technology Innovation Corridor (STIC).<\/p>\n

Yet it has also become clear that Guangdong needs to raise its game in basic research. That is why the regional master plan has placed so much emphasis on collaboration between Hong Kong\u2019s elite universities and their Guangdong counterparts, as well as research institutes such as Hong Kong\u2019s Advanced Science and Technology Research Institute. Guangdong being the dynamic province it is, however, there was always going to need to be more than one route to scientific achievement. As a result, four major clusters of scientific excellence have been receiving resources and attention from authorities not only at the local and provincial level, but also at the national level.<\/p>\n

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Two of these clusters are located in the tier one cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, but not in established tech zones. In Guangzhou, a brand-new Science City is rising in the southernmost Nansha district, one of the province\u2019s three national-level New Areas (the two others being Shenzhen\u2019s Qianhai and Zhuhai\u2019s Hengqin). In Shenzhen, the northerly Guangming area has been chosen for the next stage of the city\u2019s scientific development.<\/p>\n

The choice of Dongguan and Zhongshan for the two other Science Cities is perhaps more surprising. Both have grown over the past 20 years from rural backwaters into industrial powerhouses on the back of low-margin export-oriented manufacturing. Yet that is precisely why they were chosen for the next round of experiments in scientific progress: they have manufacturing bases that can be retooled for higher-technology outputs, and they have plenty of (cheaper) land available. In Dongguan, the Songshan Lake district has been the centre of scientific development, while in Zhongshan it has been the Cuiheng district.<\/p>\n