In its bid to become a demonstration area for advanced manufacturing, Xi’an Hi-tech Industries Development Zone has launched 16 infrastructure and service projects with a total investment of 26.08 billion yuan ($3.68 billion) and annual planned investment of 6.95 billion yuan.

Among them are eight industrial projects focusing on strategic emerging industries such as electronic information, high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials and biomedicine.

A key project is the Xi’an Electronics Valley, covering a total area of about 374.6 acres and a total construction area of about 9.1 million square meters, with a total investment of 4.8 billion yuan and annual planned investment of 960 million yuan.

Jointly built by the zone and Xidian University, the valley aims to become an innovation and technological hub in western China.

After completion, it will drive the growth of Xi’an’s electronic information industry and help the city to become a cradle for research and development, artificial intelligence and production of next-generation semiconductors.

In recent years, the semiconductor industry in the zone has grown rapidly, attracting many well-known domestic and foreign companies such as Samsung, Micron, Huawei and ZTE.

Manufacturing of high-end equipment is another pillar industry in promoting the transformation and upgrading of the economy.

One example is the industrialization project for scientific and technological research and development of ultrafast lasers for use in precision intelligent manufacturing equipment, led by Micromach, an innovative manufacturer in the zone.

Covering an area of about 23 acres and with a total construction area of 22,000 sq m, the project has a total investment of 150 million yuan.

After the project is completed, it is expected to produce 80 industrial ultrafastlasers, 150 composite beam scanning modules, and 130 ultrafastlaser precision manufacturing equipment per year.

Another high-end equipment project is the 252-million-yuan high-performance building maintenance unit of Xi’an Tianmu, a company specializing in building curtain walls, steel structures, decorations, and electronics.

The project includes building enclosure units, curtain wall aluminum veneers and aluminum honeycomb panel plants. Four production lines will be set up which are expected to produce 400,000 sq m of high-performance building enclosure glass units annually.

In the field of new materials, a new industrial park, with a planned construction area of 131,000 sq m and a total investment of 1.47 billion yuan will be built.

It will be an environmental protection and intelligent manufacturing industrial park integrating design, research and development, manufacturing, sales, installation and service of new building materials, new decorative products and strategic emerging materials.

A software technology building project has attracted1.4 billion yuan in investment so far, with annual planned investment is 250 million yuan.

After completion, it will be a landmark of the Xi’an Software Park and further enhance the agglomeration and comprehensive service functions of the Xi’an high-tech zone.

In terms of infrastructure, the zone is to reconstruct the Zhangbasilu-South Third Ring Road and the North Auxiliary Road located on both sides of the South Third Ring Road section, with a total investment of some 72 million yuan.

The renovation includes a pedestrian bridge, as well as street lights, landscaping and traffic safety projects.