Optics Valley, a window to the world

Optics Valley is adjacent to the Yangtze River in the north and Liangzi Lake in the south. [Photo/Optics Valley of China]

In the east of Wuhan, Hubei, the State-level East Lake High-tech Development Zone is more widely known as Optics Valley of China (OVC). Last year, its total GDP exceeded RMB 240 billion.

From "a beam of light" to an optoelectronics information industrial cluster with global influence, from "Optics Valley of China" to "Optics Valley of the World," the area is accelerating its growth.

Boasting pleasant ecological environment

Optics Valley is adjacent to the Yangtze River in the north and Liangzi Lake in the south. It has 9 lakes and 44 mountains and hills, occupying half of the area.

On the Longquan Mountain beside Liangzi Lake, there is a cultural site — the tombs of the Chu kings in the Ming dynasty. In total, nine kings who had ruled Wuchang in history were buried there.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, named his sons and grandsons as kings in various places at the beginning of his reign. Those who came to govern the ancient Wuchang city were called the Chu kings.

At the beginning of this year, the tombs, with a history of more than 600 years, were renovated and officially opened to tourists as the first provincial-level cultural heritage park in Wuhan. Strolling around in the park, tourists can get a glimpse of the kings' lives.

Niushan Lake, a tributary of the Liangzi Lake, is the only lake in Wuhan that has constantly maintained its grade-II water quality. Walking along the winding lakeside, you will be intoxicated by the beautiful landscapes.

Optics Valley not only has clear water and beautiful scenery, but also fresh air. The sound ecological environment attracts a large number of birds to settle down. Not long ago, Wuhan bird watchers discovered a new breeding ground for the Baer's pochard, a rare species, at Baoxie Lake in Optics Valley. At present, there are about 110 Baer's pochards living here.

The green axis, Optics Valley Ecological Corridor, runs through the area from north to south. The area offers people a poetic habitation with urban terraced fields, flower seas, and distant mountains. In the future, the city studies, a concert hall, and a theater will be opened along the corridor.

Adhering to green development with priority in ecology, Optics Valley is forging ahead with accelerated industry-city integration.

From Optical fiber manufacturer to global innovator

The 2022 edition of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)'s Global Innovation Index (GII) released on Sept. 29 showed that the Wuhan science and technology cluster, with Optics Valley at its core, has moved up continually in the GII ranking for the past five years, ranking 16th in the world and 6th in China.

As the birthplace of China's first optical fiber and first electro-optical transmission system, Optics Valley has grown into the world's largest R&D and production center of optical fibers and cables; its products take a 25 percent share of the international market.

Optics Valley has witnessed the birth of a new industry worth over RMB 100 billion every year since 2013. Among these new industries, the four major ones — integrated circuits, new-type displays, next-gen information networks, and biomedicines — have been included in the strategic emerging industry clusters of the country.

Based on two major industrial clusters — the cluster gathering optics, chips, screens and the internet, and the big health cluster — Optics Valley has created an economic phenomenon. In 2021 alone, its GDP accounts for 4.8 percent of that of Hubei despite its small size, occupying only 0.28 percent of the province. There are now more than 500 enterprises along the core industrial chain, each with an annual revenue of RMB 20 million or more from their main business operations. Also gathered here are over 2,400 biological enterprises. Enterprises with global influence, such as China Information and Communication Technologies Group Corporation (CICT), Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Co., Ltd. (YOFC), and Wuhan Guide Infrared Co., Ltd., have expanded their business from Optics Valley to the world. Eight enterprises, each with an annual revenue of RMB 10 billion or more from their main business operations, have emerged in Optics Valley. Representative enterprises in this regard are TCL CSOT and Lenovo (Wuhan) Industrial Base. Top internet companies such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Toutiao have settled there as well.

In 2017, China (Hubei) Pilot Free Trade Zone was unveiled, with its 70-square-kilometer Wuhan section all located in the core area of Optics Valley. As of June this year, data showed that the zone, occupying only 0.065 percent of the whole province in area, had contributed 30 percent of the province's foreign trade volume and 13.1 percent of its foreign investment.

Last year, the construction of Hubei East Lake Science City started in Optics Valley. It is the fifth national comprehensive science center after Shanghai Zhangjiang Science City, Beijing Huairou Science City, Hefei Science City, and Shenzhen Guangming Science City.

Role model of Wuhan's opening-up to the world

Currently, Optics Valley has built business relationships with more than 150 countries and regions worldwide and attracted over 1,400 foreign-invested enterprises as well as nearly 100 Fortune Global 500 companies. In 2021, its imports and exports amounted to RMB 183.363 billion.

International events such as the China 5G + Industrial Internet Conference, Optics Valley of China International Optoelectronic Exposition and Forum, China Bioindustry Convention, Conference on Overseas Chinese Pioneering and Developing in China, and Wuhan Open have made Optics Valley famous in the world.

As one of the three areas with most intellectual density in China, Optics Valley is surrounded by 84 universities and colleges enrolling 1.288 million college students, as well as 99 research institutions and 30 state key laboratories.

In order to be attractive to more talents globally, Optics Valley has conducted a series of actions such as constructing Wuhan Overseas Scholar Business Park and Silicon Valley for startup companies, implementing for over 12 years the 3551 Talent Program to offer funding for high-end talents, releasing a series of talent policies such as "11 Measures for Talents," opening the One-stop Service Window for expats, and recommending high-level foreign talents for China's permanent residence.

In Optics Valley, the number of expats and people who have returned to China after studying abroad has reached nearly 20,000, making it the district with the highest number of such personnel in Wuhan. Therefore, the area is considered as a role model of opening-up in Central China. Since January this year, foreign residents there can get their visas without having to travel outside the area. As of March this year, the Wuhan East Lake Free Trade Zone had verified business registration information online for more than 7,000 shareholders, executives, and legal representatives in other Chinese cities or other countries.

Up to now, Optics Valley has gathered four Nobel Prize laureates, 71 Chinese and foreign academicians, and more than 7,000 overseas entrepreneurial teams consisting of talents from over 30 countries and regions such as France, Germany, Israel, and the U.S. The growth rate of new overseas Chinese ranks first in Central China.

In the future, Optics Valley will adhere to the priority of green development, focus on building a world-class science city, and develop modern industrial clusters with regional influence, in order to bring Optics Valley closer to the world and ensure everyone there has a stronger sense of identity and happiness.