The Yantai High-Tech Industrial Zone is poised to become a major base for emerging industries in five years, said Liu Hongbo, secretary of the working committee for the zone.

This drilling platform, built by a company in Yantai, is now being exported to several countries in Northern Europe.[Ju Chuanjiang / China Daily]

Liu said advanced industries in the zone cover such environmentally friendly fields as biomedicine, new materials, electronic information, aerospace science, research and development, software development and outsourcing, financial services, and creative sectors.

Currently there are 42 projects under construction at the 48.8-square-kilometer core area of the zone involving a combined investment of 38 billion yuan ($6 billion).

Projects under construction include a park for biotechnology with an investment of 6 billion yuan, an industrial park with an investment of 6 billion yuan and a park for aerospace science, with 1.5 billion-yuan.

Another 13 projects will start construction in the next two years, Liu said.

Liu said the advanced industrial projects have already had a positive effect on the city's economic development.

The Luye Pharmacological Science and Technology Park is a site for the development, manufacture and sale of natural medicines and biomedicine. The park projects its annual sales will reach 10 billion yuan in five years.

The Yantai International Pioneering and Creativity Park, with an investment of 6 billion yuan, is designed to accommodate 600 enterprises in emerging fields.

Annual turnover from these enterprises is expected to total 16 billion yuan when the park is fully developed. These enterprises will also create jobs for 50,000 people and bring 1.2 billion yuan worth of tax revenue to the local government.

Liu said innovation is a major force that drives emerging industries, which is why the zone's leadership is building business incubators to provide advanced technological aid to startups.

So far, the zone has set up more than 500,000 square meters of business incubator facilities. A total of 20 researchcentered organizations have signed contracts with the zone to build R&D centers here, including the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation and the research institute of China International Marine Containers Ltd.

The zone plans to develop 1 million sq m of incubators by the end of 2015. When complete, these incubators will help more than 500 small and medium-sized companies with research and development.

By Zhao Ruixue

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