The opening ceremony of the 2021 (Central China) Changsha Artificial Intelligence (AI) Industry Expo was held on December 10. During the ceremony, Changsha issued the Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of National Sci-tech Innovation Center, announced “Ten Major Sci-tech Innovation Landmark Projects”, and started the construction of the national sci-tech innovation center.

According to the implementation opinions, Changsha will make efforts from five aspects:
--Laying out strategic sci-tech strength and building the main framework of the national sci-tech innovation center;
--Building high-level platforms for sci-tech innovation and creating new engines for innovation-driven development;
--Seizing the opportunities in the new round of digital sci-tech revolution and building a new highland for the innovative development of computing and digital economy;
--Promoting the in-depth integration of the innovation chain and industrial chain, and stimulating new driving forces for innovation-driven development; and,
--Fostering an open, cooperative and innovative ecosystem, and establishing a new model of all-area innovation systems.

By 2025, significant progress will be made in collaborative innovation. Major breakthroughs will be made in ten sci-tech innovation landmark projects. More than three innovation platforms, such as the national sci-tech innovation center, the manufacturing innovation center and the industrial innovation center, will be added. The number of national sci-tech innovation platforms will reach 100. All these will facilitate the construction of the national sci-tech innovation center.

Eight major sci-tech innovation projects were signed on site, including the construction of the Changsha Special Engineering Equipment Industrial Technology Research Institute, the Changsha Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Industrial Technology Research Institute, the Changsha AI Social Laboratory, and the establishment of the Changsha Advanced Computing Technology Innovation Consortium, the Changsha Advanced Energy Storage Materials Technology Innovation Consortium, and the Changsha Medical Device Technology Innovation Consortium.

In recent years, Changsha has achieved good results in strengthening sci-tech innovation, tackling key and core technologies, enhancing market entities' innovation ability, transforming sci-tech achievements, and building an open and innovative ecology. It has explored and formed a “Changsha mode" for sci-tech innovation featuring “government guidance, policy guarantee, financial support and whole chain service”. Statistics showed that, the whole society invested 34 billion yuan in research and development last year. Changsha has 1,502 research and development platforms at all levels, and 220 sci-tech enterprise incubators and mass innovation spaces. Changsha's innovation capacity ranked among the top eight among the country’s innovation-oriented cities, being at the national forefront.

Source: en.changsha.gov.cn