Scientific endeavors help Dalian grow into powerhouse

Yinggeshi Science City is a major base in Dalian for research and development[Photo provided by Wang Hua/For China Daily]

Northeastern metropolis generates GDP of 800 billion yuan and attracts investment in research and technology centers

Dalian, a coastal city in Northeast China's Liaoning province, has improved its industrial structure and high-quality economic and social development through innovation in recent years, local authorities said.

One of the emerging high-tech drivers is the Energy College at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. As an important project in Yinggeshi Science City in Dalian, the college has attracted 20 research teams which consist of nearly 1,000 scientists and postgraduates.

In addition to the college, a series of new laboratories in the science city held a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept 22.Their total investment reached about 5.7 billion yuan （$792.3 million） and they are expected to be operational in late 2023.

The labs include Liaoning Binhai Laboratory; Liaoning Huanghai Laboratory; a coastal and offshore engineering lab; a life health lab; a low-carbon catalytic technology study center; and a membrane technology research center.

Liaoning Binhai Laboratory, backed by Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics at Chinese Academy of Sciences, is expected to become influential in the fields of clean energy and fine chemicals.

Liaoning Huanghai Laboratory, built by Dalian University of Technology, aims to enhance the country's innovation capacity for advanced equipment manufacturing.

Hu Yuting, Party secretary of Dalian, said the city aims to be a foremost region for industrial infrastructure improvement, and a pilot area for economic and social development and to keep increasing its core competitiveness.

Yinggeshi Science City is a major base in Dalian for research and development.[Photo provided by Wang Hua/For China Daily]

Dalian's GDP approached 800 billion yuan and its per capita GDP surpassed $16,000 in 2021, 1.7 times and 1.6 times the amount of 2012 respectively, according to local statistics.

Its GDP rose 3.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year, 0.8 percentage point higher than the national average. Its fixed-asset investment and foreign trade saw year-on-year increases of 11.5 percent and 11.7 percent respectively in the first six months.

The city insists on an innovation-led development path and stresses the construction of key projects with good prospects for high-quality growth, local authorities said.

Yuan Chi, director of Dalian's science and technology bureau, said Dalian has made great progress over the past decade in science and technology and firmly implemented a strategy of development driven by innovation.

Dalian abounds in innovative resources; it is home to more than 30 colleges, universities and scientific research institutions and 110 important innovative platforms.

It ranked 17th among 78 innovation-oriented cities in a 2021 report on innovative capacity, which was recently released by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China.

Dalian's comprehensive scientific and technological innovation strength has increased rapidly over the past decade. Its research and development expenditure was 23.61 billion yuan in 2021, up 129.7 percent when compared with that in 2012.

Dalian International Conference Center is one of the landmarks in the coastal city.[Photo provided by Zhang Sijun/For China Daily]

Its number of invention patents per 10,000 people was 29.65 in 2021, 4.3 times that of 2012. It also had 3,028 high-tech companies in 2021, 7.8 times the number in 2012.

Its traditional pillar industries have been upgraded. Investment in the petrochemical sector has exceeded 240 billion yuan in recent years.

Industrial investment in equipment manufacturing was nearly 200 billion yuan. The city has seen the operation of a number of milestone projects in the areas of shipbuilding, smart manufacturing, nuclear power equipment and railway equipment. In 2017, a domestically made aircraft carrier was launched in Dalian.

The 6-kilometer-long Xinghai Bay Bridge is a major transport artery in Dalian.[Photo provided by Zhang Sijun/For China Daily]

Emerging sectors have expanded in the city. It has developed several advanced electronic information projects and helped leading information technology businesses enter fields, such as autonomous driving and high-end medical equipment manufacturing.

Taniguchi Megumi from Japan has been in Dalian for more than 20 years. Her company provides Japanese-language training for IT personnel.

"I felt the rapid development of Dalian. When Dalian Software Park was founded in 1998, it housed only several hundred people. Now the number is about 70,000," she said.

Taniguchi speaks highly of the city because of its seaside and mountains that boast many places for leisure and relaxation. She said digital technologies have made life more convenient as payments and reservations can be done by smartphone.

Dalian has also emphasized environmental protection and made achievements in urban-rural coordinated development in the past decade.

The city's officials said it will maintain a rational economic increase and aims to have GDP surpass 1 trillion yuan in 2024.

Source:<http://en.chinaculture.org/a/202210/14/WS6348ab41a310fd2b29e7c5d1_7.html>