Boom times arrive for city's headquarters economy

In 2016, Guangzhou's companies and individuals received 16 National Science and Technology awards, which accounted for half the number in Guangdong province.

The city has 210 national and provincial-level laboratories.

The publication of papers from local individuals and companies listed in the Scientific Citation Index grew by 7.9 percent last year. The total number of the papers reached 20,519, higher than Hong Kong and Singapore.

In recent years, Guangzhou has attracted a large number of innovative research projects to upgrade its industrial chain.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a globally leading institution based in the United States which focuses on bio-medical science research, signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Guangzhou Development District in August.

The agreement involved the construction of the Cold Spring Harbor (Guangzhou) Research Institution - a commercialization center for leading scientific and technological achievements - and the Cold Spring Harbor (Guangzhou) Biological Medicine Fund.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has become home to eight scientists who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

In July, US industrial behemoth General Electric announced plans to build an $800-million bio-campus in the Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, which was designed to be a leading biopharmaceutical and healthcare industrial park in Guangzhou.

"For hundreds of years, Guangzhou has been a hub of trade and commerce," said Luo Zheng, an official at Guangzhou commission of commerce.

"Opening-up and innovation have been long regarded as the city's spirit."

At present, Guangzhou has attracted investors from more than 130 countries and regions around the world, and set up business and trade ties with more than 220 countries and regions, Luo said.

"The centuries-long tradition of commerce, its unique geographic location as China's southern gateway to the sea and its extensive transportation network, as well as the strong support from the manufacturing industry in the Pearl River Delta, have endowed Guangzhou with advantages in developing trade and investment," he added.

By the end of September this year, there were about 30,000 companies in Guangzhou with funding from overseas investors, involving investments of more than $85 billion, according to Luo.