More than 60% of anesthetics in hospitals are made in Humanwell Healthcare Group Co. Ltd. At a big concert, the piano is marked with two words—“Yangtze River”. In most Asian people’s kitchens, housewives use yeast powder of Angel Yeast Co., Ltd
The zone has four "world first" (i.e., the world\'s largest polyol production base—Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co., Ltd, the world\'s largest hexametaphosphate producer—Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Group Co., Ltd, the world\'s largest production and export base for diamond saw blade matrix—HXF Saw Co., Ltd., the production and export base which has the world\'s largest production and most forms for neomycin sulfate—Yichang Sanxia Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd), three “Asia first” (i.e., Asia\'s largest producer of fertilizer as well as rock salt—Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., Asia\'s largest production and research base of active dry yeast—Angel Yeast Co., Ltd., Asia\'s largest producer of medical butyl rubber stopper—Hubei Huaqiang Hi-tech Co., Ltd.) and six “China first” (i.e., China’s biggest chemical producer of combined-soda process and chlor-alkali—Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., China’s largest fine phosphate producer—Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Group Co., Ltd, the modern environment-friendly cable manufacturing base which has China’s highest voltage, the most advanced technology and the strongest production capacity—Federal Cable Co., Ltd., China’s only manufacturer which has full range and largest CNC gear shaper as well as important large high-speed CNC gear milling machine—Yichang Changjiang Machine Technology Co., Ltd., China’s largest narcotics producer—Humanwell Healthcare Group Co. Ltd and so on).
Why do these “Firsts” come from Yichang High-tech Zone?
Local enterprises play a pivotal role
A little rubber stopper enjoys high favor among big pharmaceutical producers.
In 2002, Huang Youmin, a Yichang citizen, quit his job and founded Hubei HuaRun Technology Co., Ltd. After the invention of the unique rubber material, it started to produce pharmaceutical rubber stoppers. Through efforts for years, HuaRun attracted famous manufacturers by its fame like Harbin Pharmaceutical Group holding Co., Ltd, Taiji Group and Infinitus. Nowadays an annual capacity of 5 million stoppers still fails to meet the needs of the market.
Separated from HuaRun Technology by a wall, Yichang Sensing IOT Business Incubator was established by Yichang WTAU Electronic Equipment Co., Ltd and Yichang High-tech Zone together. The incubator has been put into operation officially.
Open a computer, log in the remote security monitoring system and all construction sites across the country come into view. When someone zooms in a selected crane partially, changing data about hoisting weight, wind speed and radian will spring up in succession. The hoisting security monitoring system was developed by Yichang WTAU Electronic Equipment Co., Ltd.
Now the system is applied to cranes at construction sites and enters the overseas market. 1/3 of cranes in China National Offshore Oil Corp. have been equipped with the system.
Yichang High-tech Zone is never short of passion and soil for innovative entrepreneurship—
Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co., Ltd is the world\'s largest polyol production base and Asia\'s largest producer of rock salt.
Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Group Co., Ltd is China’s largest organic salt producer and its sodium tripolyphosphate dominates market share.
Angel Yeast Co., Ltd is Asia\'s largest yeast production base and its market share ranks first at home and in Asia.
They have one thing in common: born in Yichang.
Why do local monks give better sermons? “Pleasant City, Prosperous Land. Entrepreneur and policy environment play a key role in innovative entrepreneurship.” answered Yang Meiren, Director of the Management Committee of Yichang High-tech Zone.
Since 2011, Yichang High-tech Zone has set up a special fund of 100 million RMB for talent development and carried out the "Three Gorges Talents Project" at home and abroad. The Zone spends a lot on talents.
At present, Yichang High-tech Zone owns 12 high-quality overseas professionals with innovative entrepreneurship. Among them, there are 4 experts from national "Thousand Talents Plan" and 8 from provincial "Hundred Talents Plan". What’s more, 8 people with doctor degree start a business there.
The Zone, banks and insurance companies establish a cooperation mode of sharing credit risk together. Policy loan period is usually limited within a year. Each enterprise applies for a loan of 3 million RMB at most. Financing cost is about 7%.
Drove by preferential policies, the Zone has 103 national high-tech enterprises, 14 of which are national, provincial or municipal innovative companies.
Keep intensifying reform
Last September, the first phase of the project of Yichang CSG Display Co., Ltd was completed and put into trial production. Its ultra-thin glass had a thickness of 0.7mm. In terms of capacity, 3 companies of the same kind could match Yichang CSG Display in China.
From signing a contract to going into operation, the company spent less than a year in the project with an investment of about 3 billion RMB. Zhou Yu, General Manager of Yichang CSG Display Co., Ltd, exclaimed that “Yichang Speed” surpassed “Shenzhen Speed”.
The Zone newly signed the electronic project of Lantai Technology Industrial Co., Ltd. It took 3 months to finish formalities in earlier stage, while in the past, it usually took 6 months.
The Zone wins businessmen with high efficiency. Reform as dividends boosts its development.
Yichang High-tech Zone is learning from Shanghai Free Trade Zone actively. The Zone takes the lead in introducing negative and positive list of investment admission. Industrial investment projects on the positive list will enjoy a record-keeping system and ignore all preconditions. An enterprise will spend 3 days at most in getting a business license, tax registration certificate and organization code certificate.
Central service windows keep seals. All relevant departments authorize window service personnel to stamp and issue licenses based on administrative examination and approval, avoiding "stamping upstairs and issuing downstairs".
Further simplify administrative examination and approval formalities. The approval items are reduced from 91 items to 44 and the time is reduced by 74%.
There are now more than 8000 industrial and commercial enterprises, 98 industrial enterprises and 103 high-tech enterprises in the Zone. Every year, there are about 200 projects that are introduced into the Zone. Once a contract was signed, the project would be transferred to the professional agents there who would be responsible for all the following formalities, such as company registration, tax registration, land registration and the examination and approval of program planning.
The large layout of “one zone, six parks”
Along the Yangtze River, Yichang High-tech Zone depicts a grand picture of innovative entrepreneurship. In 1998, the zone covered an area of 11.2 km2. Now it expands into six core parks with an area of 315 km2. It has become the engine of “six industries worth 100 billion RMB”.
The equipment industrial cluster which relies on the enterprises like Zhongxing Automobile Co., Ltd, Federal Cable Co., Ltd and Yichang Changjiang Machine Technology Co., Ltd develops auto parts, intensive steel processing, manufacture of ships and diesel engines and electro-mechanical equipment.
The fine chemical industrial cluster which gathers the enterprises like Hubei Yihua Chemical Industry Co., Ltd and Xingfa Fine Chemical Industrial Park produces phosphorus chemicals, coal chemicals, chlorine and alkali chemicals, chemical Intermediates, etc.
The biomedical industrial cluster which depends on Angel Yeast Co., Ltd, Humanwell Healthcare Group Co. Ltd, Yichang Sanxia Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd and Hubei Huaqiang Hi-tech Co., Ltd develops biological yeast, anesthetics, research and development of bacteria and bionic technology.
The new materials industrial cluster which assembles HXF Saw Co., Ltd, Top-China Nano Science & Technology Co., Ltd and SpinIC makes nano materials, lithium-ion battery materials, magnetic materials, electronic base materials, metallic materials and nonmetallic materials.
The new energy industrial cluster which depends on CSG, Jinsen Light Electronic Company and O\'CELL Technology Co., Ltd develops electrical equipment of new energy, clean fuels and solar energy.
In the first half of 2014, under the drive of industrial clusters, the Zone has achieved a fixed assets investment of 17.6 billion RMB, up 15.5%; local fiscal revenue of 1.03 billion RMB, increasing 21.9%; 43 projects with a total investment of 14.8 billion RMB.
The zone consists of six core parks including Dongshan Science & Technology Park, Xiaoting Industrial Park, Hubei-Shenzhen Industrial Park, Baiyang Industrial Park, Yichang Bio-industrial Park of Wuhan National Biological Industry Base and Dianjun Electronic Information Industrial Park. These parks have no clear relationship with the industrial clusters.
On the map, Yichang High-tech Zone differs from most relatively concentrated development zones. Instead of developing a whole area, the zone scatters six parks at random. The relevant authority stated that the layout took shape naturally for lack of overall planning in earlier years. Take Humanwell Healthcare Group Co. Ltd for an example, since there is no room for development at Dongshan Science & Technology Park, the company establishes a pharmaceutical export production base at Yichang Bio-industrial Park.
The layout of “one zone, six parks” caused some problems in project construction and fund management like complex approval procedures and confusion about boundary responsibilities.
In February, the Zone introduced relevant policies to intensify super-ministry reform. The Party Working Committee and Management Committee implemented the first level management at departments and parks. At the premise of maintaining 8 internal institutions of state organ, the Committees integrated administrative and departmental functions of 14 public institutions directly under people\'s government and realized flat management in a unified way.
Moreover, the Committees clarified the rights and responsibilities for project management, capital management, management of social affairs, administrative examination and approval management, investment and financing management, investment promotion management, agency staffing and personnel management, comprehensive law enforcement, etc. A clear management system took shape.
The Zone wins municipal administrative licensing and approval authority involving development and reform, commerce, land, construction, environmental protection, safety supervision, house property and business management.
In 1998, the entrepreneurs in Yichang made their fortune with 50,000 RMB and set up first self-supporting development zone in Hubei. Now, Yichang innovation drives transformation and development. No doubt that the Zone is an important engine and growth pole.
(Reporter: Hu Hanchang, Zhou Fang, Liu Changsong, Tang Yigui, Liao Zhihui and Wang Chenglong; Correspondent: Hu Zhibin, Dan Zhenyan and Chen Xiaojun)