A lung cancer detection system, a made-in-China neurostimulator, an oil-cooled drive motor for new energy vehicles… these are a few of the technological innovations coming out of China's high-tech industry, the main driver of Beijing's economic growth. In 2018, high-tech production contributed an added value of 697.6 billion yuan (US$101 billion) to Beijing's economy, an increase of 9.4% year on year. 

The Information Office of the Beijing Municipal Government and the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission jointly held a press conference Wednesday on the topic of major achievements made in key high-tech industries. 

According to Liu Hui, deputy inspector of the commission, at the end of 2017, the municipal government selected ten industries, including pharmaceutical and healthcare, AI and others as key high-tech areas for development.  

High-tech industries are now leading the economic development in Beijing. In 2018, Beijing's GDP exceeded three trillion yuan, and the new economy realized an added value of more than one trillion yuan, of which high-tech industries achieved an added value of 697.6 billion yuan, or a 9.4% year-on-year increase. Rapid development in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, AI, intelligent connected vehicles, big data, and 5G has stimulated the added values of high-tech manufacturing industries and strategic emerging industries to increase by 13.9% and 7.8%, respectively.

In 2018, the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission invested more than 2.5 billion yuan in science and technology to promote the development of high-tech industries from basic research and innovation to integration of innovative elements. The government also established an innovation fund, which has met with 170 institutions so far. The fund has also developed 52 sub-funds for projects and decided to invest in 14 projects, with a scale of 18.6 billion yuan. 

Among the high-tech industries, the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry saw its revenue reach 186.76 billion yuan last year, up 14.3% year on year, an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared to the same period of 2017. The number of pharmaceutical enterprises above the designated size reached 341, with a total output of 132.33 billion yuan. Data shows that in Beijing there are 20 pharmaceutical enterprises with an annual revenue of more than one billion yuan, with a total output of over 60 billion yuan.

In the new energy vehicle sector, Beijing is leading the nation in the area of electric vehicles in terms of scale, promotion, application and innovation, and has built a relatively mature industrial chain. By the end of April, the number of all-electric cars and charging stations reached 263,500 and 179,700 respectively. 

In the field of new materials, the revenue of leading enterprises in Beijing continued to grow in 2018. Nineteen listed companies featuring new materials achieved a revenue of 106.52 billion yuan in total. 

Beijing's AI industry is also booming. According to an incomplete survey, the AI-related industry reached 150 billion yuan in 2018. Beijing has made breakthroughs in the R&D of key AI technologies, boasting a range of world-class technological achievements and over 25,000 patents.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)