Major innovation project makes progress in Hefei

The construction of the Grand Union of Innovation High-tech Park, a technological innovation hub in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone – in Hefei, the provincial capital of East China's Anhui province – is gaining ground.

The hub is understood to have made steady progress, with its first phase now in full swing and the second phase about to start.

An artist's rendering of the Grand Union of Innovation High-tech Park. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

The project, with an investment of 5.53 billion yuan ($773 million), seeks to pool global innovative talent and leverage the leading role of science and technology and institutional innovation.

That's by virtue of the alumni from the local University of Science and Technology of China and other world-class institutions of higher education – focusing on the commercialization of innovative achievements, the incubation of innovative enterprises and the optimization of the innovation ecosystem.

"With only over a month left until the end of the year, we are racing against the clock, working hard to speed up the progress of the project and striving to achieve more tangible results," a manager of the project said.

Work gets underway in the Hefei high-tech zone. [Photo/WeChat ID: hefeigaoxinfabu]

The project is being built on a site covering 276 mu (18.4 hectares), with a total building floor space of 624,100 square meters. The main construction includes high-rise and multi-story factories, as well as support services facilities.

On completion, it will be developed in conjunction with China's Speech Valley and become a new hub for technological innovation.