Zhongguancun Science Park is China's biggest science park with a high concentration of scientific and technological institutions and intellectual resources. Located in this area are 39 institutions of higher learning represented by Beijing University and Tsinghua University. There are 213 research institutions as exemplified by the institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) and 37% of the academicians of both the CAS and CAE are living and working in this area. Each year, thousands of sophisticated research discoveries emerge in this area and pour out to all places throughout China. Many state-level laboratories and important engineering and technology centers are concentrated in this area too. Zhongguancun Science Park is the largest software development and production center in China.
Zhongguancun Science Park in fact is composed of five science zones like Haidian Zone, Fengtai Zone, Changping Zone, the Electronic City Zone and Yizhuang Zone. Some ten thousand new and hi-tech enterprises, such as Legend, Stone, Founder, Zhongguancun Science and Technology, Tsinghua Tongfang, Netease, are all doing their business at Zhongguancun. In addition, there are some 1500 R&D centers and hi-tech companies set up by or invested by renowned overseas transnational companies like IBM, Microsoft, Mitsubishi in this area as well as 40 overseas listed companies. At present Zhongguancun has become the most important growth point in the economic development of the capital which makes a contribution of 60% of the total industrial growth of the city. The business income generated from the industry, trade and technology of Zhongguancun Science Park in 2001 accounted for 18% of the total income of all the 53 national new and hi-tech parks.
In June 1999, the State Council of China officially approved the "Note of Request to Expedite the Building of Zhongguancun Science Park for the Purpose of Implementing the Strategy of Rejuvenating the Country through Science and Education" by the Beijing Municipal Government and the Ministry of Science and Technology and instructed the Beijing Municipal Government and the Ministry of Science and Technology to speed up the construction process of Zhongguancun Science Park in order to build it into a comprehensive reform trial base for implementing the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education and the two essential changes, a model base of international technical innovation with competitiveness, an incubator and radiating center for its scientific and technological achievements with its footing in the capital city of Beijing but facing the whole country and a base for training innovators and a first-class science park in the world. This is the most important trans-century decision made by the central government after its decisions of establishing the Shenzhen Special Zone in 1980s and opening up Shanghai's Pudong area in 1990s.
Beijing People's Municipal Government promulgated "Regulations of the Zhongguancun Science Park" on January 1, 2001, which provides the legal basis and guideline for its future development. The Park is now moving on at vigorous strides in promoting technology innovation in accordance with the principle of "Bold innovation in the areas not banned by the law" with the ambition of achieving great changes every year and make the Park a first-rate science park in the world within 10 years.
Zhongguancun is indeed a place full of opportunities and challenges as well as bright hopes. All domestic and overseas companies and individuals are welcome to Zhongguancun for business development.