The total technical staff working in Zhongguancun Science Park reached 402,000 last year as investment in high-tech sectors hit 91.8 billion yuan ($15 billion), according to the latest Zhongguancun Index released in September.

The index showed that for every thousand employees in the park, an average of 253.7 were technical staff.

With investment in research and development in Zhongguancun 5.3 times the rate of the whole country, nearly 40,000 patent applications were filed last year in the area, 43 percent of the total in Beijing. Among them 22,632 were granted, 44.8 percent of the total.

The area had 4,800 startup companies and 2,000 rapidly growing enterprises that generated revenue of more than 100 million yuan each, according to the index.

There were also 24 local companies on Deloitte's "Technology Fast 50 China".

And on the latest list from Forbes magazine of the top 200 enterprises with potential in China, 46 are based in Zhongguancun Science Park.

The number of experts from foreign countries in the demonstration area of Zhongguancun Science Park hit 2,319 last year, a rise of 668 over 2011.

On another Forbes' list - the top 30 entrepreneurs under 30 in China - 10 are in Zhongguancun.

Total revenue generated in Zhongguancun last year reached 2.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 27.4 percent over 2011.

The value of exports from all companies in the high-tech area was nearly $26.2 billion in 2012, an increase of 28.4 percent.

Some 300 companies in the area made a combined 33.19 billion yuan in foreign investment last year. There were also 14 international mergers and acquisitions.

Yang Yuecheng, deputy director of the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center at the Ministry of Science and Technology, said the annual Zhongguancun Index "provides solutions and inspiration for high-tech industries in Beijing and China".

"With an emphasis on the power of innovation, it is of great significance for a country with a booming high-tech industry," said Yang.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

Zhongguancun has grown from an electronics market into an international center of high-tech. Provided to China Daily

(China Daily 09/13/2013 page10)