Forbes recently published a list of 300 Asian pioneers under 30 years old in innovation and emerging businesses, two of whom work in the Chengdu High-Tech Development Zone in Southwest China's Sichuan province: Li Longfei and Wang Shirui.

Li is the founder of an internet gaming company and Wang began an online medical care company. Li said he believes the zone has a complete industrial chain for internet games, with research and development, distribution, operations and partnerships, which is important for the growth of his business.

By the end of 2015, the zone has more than 400 internet gaming enterprises, which employed about 15,000 people.

In a recent report in Fortune magazine, new business starters in Chengdu referred to as rongpiao, or "foreign talents from outside Chengdu", enjoy a leisurely lifestyle as well as benefit from policies in the city.

Yang Xiao, a co-founder of an internet medical care company in Chengdu, said he was amazed at the fast growth of his enterprise and was confident in its future development.

Yang and two friends raised 1 million yuan ($154,445) in 2008 to found the company.

The venture's current value is about 3 billion yuan and it has become a major player in its market niche.

Shanghai MJ Intelligent System Co cooperated with a Chengdu-based company to set up its R&D center in Chengdu Science City, a research and development industrial park near the high-tech zone.

Chen Jun, president of Shanghai MJ, said: "Chengdu has some famous universities, institutes and vocational schools. The government attaches great importance to promoting innovation. That's why I set up the center in this city."

Chen expects the production value of the Chengdu center will hit 2 billion yuan within three years.

High-tech industries

By the end of last year, Chengdu had nearly 80 new-business incubators, the largest of which is in Tianfu New District.

More than 13,000 people are employed in over 700 new enterprises in the 400,000-square-meter business incubator zone. Deng Kunshan, general manager of the zone, said: "The place has become a new-business ecosphere where people can work, live and make innovations."

According to Deng, the key industries the zone strongly supports include electronic information, biological medicine, railway transportation, high-end equipment manufacturing, energy saving and environmental protection, modern agriculture, cultural creativity and modern service sectors.

Fu Yi, vice-president of UFIDA Software's branch in Chengdu Science City, said: "The city has a strong atmosphere of starting new businesses. Chengdu has very large input in the information industry.

As a company serving other enterprises, we have obtained a lot of opportunities in Chengdu."

In addition to nurturing businesses, Chengdu also pays special attention to attracting institutes and R&D centers.

On March 11, the Chengdu government signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Chengdu branch.

The branch will build a 78-hectare campus, which is planned to cater to more than 4,000 people, in Chengdu Science City.

The construction of the new campus is scheduled to be completed in three to five years.

The science city is also cooperating with Peking University, Tsinghua University, Sichuan University, the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Tongji University and Stanford University to build research branches in Chengdu.

(China Daily USA 05/10/2016 page15)