They have made great strides in their reform and development, as well as in formulating innovative systems and enterprise incubation capabilities, and in fostering innovative personnel, said Xu when summarizing the development of 53 national high-tech zones recently at a press conference hosted by the State Council Information Office. The figures were 100 times higher than those of 1991, when the country began establishing such kind of zones. The market-oriented national zones introduced the reform of the systems of property rights, distribution, labor and personnel, social security and the establishment of a modern enterprise mechanism.
China has rich intellectual resources based on a huge population with higher education.
This provides the country a potential for developing the knowledge-based economy. Take the Zhongguancun area in Beijing for example, a total of 68 universities and 232 research institutes are scattered in the area of 75 square kilometers. Meanwhile, the government poured in more and more investment in order to improve facilities and management in the zones. Some famous high-tech enterprises, such as Legend, Stone and Founder, have also emerged from the zones. China's high-tech zones still have much to be desired despite of great achievements over the past years, Xu said.