Why does ＂black technology＂ emerge endlessly here？ —— ＂Science and Technology City＂ Hefei 2022 Opening Observation
Xinhua News Agency, Hefei, January 24thQuestion: Why does "black technology" emerge endlessly here? — — Observation on the opening of Hefei in 2022 as the "City of Science and Technology"
Xinhua News Agency reporters Yang Yuhua, Ma Shurui and Wu Huijun.
Today, netizens talk about its "counterattack" on social media: the total economic output exceeds one trillion yuan, emerging industries such as new displays, integrated circuits and artificial intelligence are gathered, and technological breakthroughs such as "the hottest sun", "the longest stay" and "the fastest computing power" continue … …
Hefei, located in the middle, what are the characteristics of the "road to science and technology"? In 2022, the reporter observed how Hefei made innovation flourish in this city.
How can primitive innovation have more sources of living water?
Before the Spring Festival, there was good news: the team of Academician Guo Guangcan of China University of Science and Technology set a new world record for the transmission distance of 833km optical fiber quantum key distribution.
This is a quantum satellite model of Mozi, which was shot in Anhui Innovation Museum (photo taken on August 25th, 2020). Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Junxi photo
From quantum communication, Mozi’s messenger, Wukong’s exploration, to nine chapters of calculation, the origin of Sina, Zu Chongzhi and so on, a number of scientific and technological achievements have gone from Hefei to the world in recent years.
Participants visited the "Nine Chapters" quantum computing prototype model at the 2021 Quantum Industry Conference held in Hefei (photo taken on September 18, 2021). Xinhua News Agency reporter Han Xu photo
Why are original innovations constantly born in this city?
"Everyone saves a ration every day, so we must let the teachers and students of China University of Science and Technology have enough to eat." In 1970, when HKUST moved south, Hefei people made room and collected food stamps to accept the school. A number of subordinate research institutes from China Academy of Sciences and China Electronics Technology Group have also settled in Hefei.
These scientific and educational resources have laid the background of this city.
At the beginning of the new year, the reporter came to Yunfei Road, Hefei High-tech Zone. This street, hundreds of meters long, gathered more than 20 quantum technology enterprises, including Guo Dun Quantum, Primitive Quantum and Guoyi Quantum. In 2021, the operating income of these enterprises exceeded 600 million yuan, an increase of over 50% over the previous year.
This is the model of "high-speed quantum key generation terminal" displayed by China University of Science and Technology (photo taken on August 22, 2019). Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Junxi photo
In the past 2021, a wave of "hard technology" entrepreneurship with new technologies as the mainstay was set off. Hefei’s advantages in source innovation have been accelerated into the kinetic energy of innovation and development. In 2021, there were more than 1,200 national high-tech enterprises in Hefei.
On September 29, 2017, the world’s first quantum secure communication trunk line — — "Beijing-Shanghai trunk line" officially opened. The researchers work in the general control center of quantum communication "Beijing-Shanghai trunk line" of the Institute of Advanced Technology of the University of Science and Technology of China. Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Junxi photo
In addition to amplifying the original innovation effect of local scientific research institutes, Hefei has also introduced Tsinghua University, Beihang University and China Academy of Agricultural Sciences to establish R&D platforms to gather more innovative "power sources".
Now, Hefei is starting to build the "Silicon Valley of the University of Science and Technology", creating a "test field" for the reform of the scientific and technological system and a "high-yield field" for the growth of high-tech enterprises, and setting up a science and technology group and a talent group to gather more innovative resources, so as to make Hefei an innovative highland at the forefront of the country and even the world.
How can emerging industries be stronger?
On New Year’s Eve, Hefei signed three major projects in one breath: Luozi Global Remote Sensing Satellite Industrial Base, Layout Satellite Global Operation Center and Hand in Hand Digital Earth Industry.
The city has a bigger dream of "reaching the stars": by the end of 2025, it will form a whole industrial chain including satellite manufacturing, application terminals, operation services and comprehensive data application, with a total scale of 100 billion yuan.
For a long time, Hefei’s scientific research and industry were not well combined. The research achievements of China University of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc. have been "shelved" or "moved away from home", and are rarely transformed locally in Hefei.
This is the construction site of the Institute of Quantum Information and Quantum Science and Technology Innovation of Chinese Academy of Sciences (photo of drone) in Hefei, Anhui Province, which was taken on May 30, 2020. Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Bohan photo
More than a decade ago, Hefei, which was committed to building a home appliance manufacturing base, saw a breakpoint in the industrial chain: LCD panels and integrated circuit chips used in home appliances relied heavily on imports, and Hefei decided to aim at "lack of screens and cores" for industrial attack.
An investment promotion cadre in Hefei still remembers that when demonstrating the BOE project, he was repeatedly asked various technical questions by the city leaders, but he was "sweating all over in the winter" when he couldn’t answer them. In order to find out the technical route and identify the industrial prospect, he and his colleagues simply dismantled a computer and studied the parts from the display to the internal memory.
This is an OLED transparent screen shot at the 2021 World Display Industry Conference held in Hefei, Anhui Province on June 17th, 2021. Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Bohan photo
Today, Hefei’s new display industry has been listed in the first batch of strategic emerging industrial clusters in China, and its output value will exceed 100 billion yuan in 2021. The number of integrated circuit enterprises has increased to more than 300, and the output value has more than doubled in 2021.
In the cold season, Hefei Xinqiao Intelligent Electric Vehicle Industrial Park is in full swing. The modern workshop of Weilai Hefei Second Production Base has risen from the ground, and the internal equipment is being installed. It is expected to be put into production in the third quarter of this year. According to the plan, there will be a whole industrial chain cluster with an annual output value of over 500 billion yuan, from parts to vehicles.
This is the China Sound Valley Industrial Park in Hefei, Anhui Province (photo taken on March 13, 2019, photo of drone). Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Duan photo
Hefei also incubates its own high-tech industries. In 2012, with Iflytek as the leader, China Sound Valley, the first national industrial base in the field of intelligent voice and artificial intelligence, was established. By 2021, there will be more than 1,000 enterprises here with an output value of over 100 billion yuan.
On December 24, 2021, the staff introduced a smart medical product in the China Sound Valley Experience Center in the western suburbs of Hefei, Anhui Province. Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Duan photo
Today, strategic emerging industries in Hefei account for more than half of the city’s industrial proportion. Among them, integrated circuits, new display and artificial intelligence industries are listed in the first batch of national strategic emerging industrial clusters, with an output growth rate of nearly 30%.
A "online celebrity" guide to attracting investment for key industries in Hefei may provide a glimpse of the city’s industrial vision. This 199-page booklet lists the frontier industries and prospects in detail: compound semiconductor, micro-electromechanical system industry, power device industry and micro-display industry. Hefei has sent investment promotion teams to Beijing, Guangzhou and other areas all the year round to track the development of frontier industries on the spot and provide "top-notch" services to the leading enterprises in the industry.
With vision and such hard work, Hefei has gathered and cultivated industrial landmarks.
How hard core technology is harder?
Some people say that if a city has a future technology that changes the world, it has a future here.
In Hefei, there are three such technologies: quantum information, artificial intelligence and controlled nuclear fusion.
Among them, controlled nuclear fusion achieved new progress by the end of 2021 — — China’s "artificial sun" has achieved a record of thousands of second plasma operation.
In January 2022, the reporter came to the vicinity of Science Island in the northern suburb of Hefei, where the comprehensive research facilities for the key systems of the fusion reactor host were under intense construction. This is the fourth scientific apparatus in Hefei.
This scientific apparatus base, with 14 single buildings, looks like a "phoenix spreading its wings", which means flying phoenix day by day. Next year, about 80 scientific research institutes and enterprises will enter the park and use devices to carry out scientific research.
"The construction of this project is creating a new Hefei speed." As a researcher, Liu Jianguo, president of Hefei Institute of Material Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, gave a thumbs up. Hefei paid 2 billion yuan to build a supporting park first, so that the project started at least 6 months earlier than the overall national approval.
Scientific apparatus is a "sharp weapon" for original innovation and cutting-edge scientific research achievements. At present, there are more than 10 scientific apparatus under construction, built and pre-researched, which embodies the "hard core" of the city.
In Hefei City, Anhui Province, self-driving vehicles are ready to enter the 5G demonstration line (photo taken on September 3, 2020, photo of drones). Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Junxi photo
However, hard-core technology is not built in a day.
As early as 1980s, Hefei successfully introduced the first scientific apparatus synchrotron radiation light source because of China University of Science and Technology. At the beginning of this century, Hefei has successively built a fully superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device and a steady-state strong magnetic field device, making it one of the most concentrated cities in scientific apparatus.
This is the fully superconducting tokamak nuclear fusion experimental device (EAST) filmed on April 13th, 2021. Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Mushe
Approved as a comprehensive national science center in 2017, Hefei focuses on four major fields: energy, information, life and environment, and accelerates the construction of major scientific and technological infrastructure clusters such as scientific apparatus, national laboratories and new R&D institutions.
Holding the "sharp weapon" of major scientific research infrastructure, Hefei has been climbing the peak of science and technology. In 2021, among the top ten scientific and technological breakthroughs in China, Hefei has four seats.
The mission doesn’t stop there. As a sub-central city of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration and a G60 science and technology corridor city in the Yangtze River Delta, Hefei is jointly creating a comprehensive national science center with Shanghai, sharing scientific infrastructure, jointly building innovative carriers and jointly tackling scientific and technological problems.
Since the beginning of the year, Hefei Advanced Computing Center, named "Chaohu Mingyue", has been upgraded to become a national supercomputing center. As the initiator of the Yangtze River Delta Advanced Computing Alliance, You Haofang, the owner of Hefei Pre-calculation Center, said that the industrial alliance not only empowers the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Delta, but also builds China’s computing power for the future.
A world-oriented source of scientific and technological innovation is gestating in Hefei.