In July 2008, Futong Group signed an agreementwith Tianjin Hi-tech Industry Park (THIP) tosettle its R&D center and manufacturing facilityin Binhai Hi-tech Zone. One month later, XiamenSan An Optoelectronics Co. also signed anagreement with THIP to locate its LED projecthere after winning a series of preferential and incentivepolicies. The growing THIP has attractedthe interests of investors of the industry.

In order to foster sound environment for innovationand private companies, THIP issuedsimulative measures in May 2008, announcingthat the high-tech project leaders could getone-off start-up fund subsidy of RMB 3 to 5million yuan. Meanwhile, the park administrationwill provide offices for R&D with an area of100 to 500 square meters to these elites withoutcharging rents for three years.

The growth of high-tech companies needs thefund support. Hi-tech Development, one of thelisted companies in THIP, is mainly engaged inbuilding and operating hatches for industrialreal estate companies and high-tech companies.It could provide three-level hatchingmode, or basic, improved and developed servicesto companies at different stages of theirdevelopment, including the seed stage, growthstage and maturity stage.

Approved by the State Council, THIP was officiallyestablished in March 1991 and wasamong the first batch of State-level high-techindustry parks. With a planned area of 85.74square kilometers, THIP is composed of HuayuanIndustry Park, Binhai High-tech Zone,Nankai Scientific Park, Wuqing DevelopmentDistrict, Beichen High-tech Industry Park andTanggu Oceanic and High-tech Industry Park.The Huayuan Industry Park and Binhai HightechZone are the core areas of THIP.

As the first “coal-free” district and a national environmentalprotection demonstration area withthe certificate of ISO 14000, Huayuan IndustryPark has attracted the investments from a bignumber of world-renowned companies. Of thetotal 3,600 companies in the park, 34 are amongthe World Top 500, including Siemens, Toyota,Samsung, Microsoft, Sanyo and NEC.

As an expansion zone of THIP, Binhai High-techZone has been the first State-level high-techpark approved by the State Council to be buildwith the joint efforts of the ministry and municipalitygovernment. The Ministry of Scienceand Technology has put Binhai High-tech Zoneon the list of China’s pilot high-tech parks withworld first-rate performance. The Ministry of Scienceand Technology has also granted all kindsof incentive policies to support the developmentof Binhai High-tech Zone, including the applicationof key national scientific projects.

Innovation has been the soul for the developmentof THIP, which also created excellentenvironment for the SMEs. In the first half ofthis year, THIP recorded RMB 22.1 billion yuanof GDP, which represented an increase of 32percent from the corresponding period of lastyear. The sales of THIP surge 33.4 percent yearon-year to 80.2 billion yuan, up 7.5 percentagepoints from a year before.

So far, many high-tech projects, including themanufacturing and application industrial basefor space probe of China Aerospace Scienceand Technology Corporation, the wind powerproject of Guangdong Mingyang Electric Co.,the R&D center of Tianjin Institute of PharmaceuticalResearch, Air Liquide China and DalianHi-Think Computer Technology have settleddown in Binhai High-tech Zone, which laid asound foundation for the development of THIP.

After several years’ development, five majorindustrial clusters, including software andhigh-end information manufacturing industry,green power industry, advanced manufacturingindustry, bio-medicine industry and modernservices industry, have taken shape in THIP,which has been the most powerful drive to theeconomic growth of THIP.