Along Wangjiang West Road all the way to the west, on the hot land of Hefei High-tech Zone, a large number of enterprises focusing on R&D and other fields of products are experiencing the whole process from rooting to germination, and then to jointing growth. With the growth of these enterprises, Hefei High-tech Zone has gradually become a "Chinese Sound Valley and Quantum Center" with global influence. Quantum Technology, Life Sciences...... These technical terms, which were once far away from people's lives, are now synonymous with new quality productivity. This year's government work report proposes to "vigorously promote the construction of a modern industrial system and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces". Different from the traditional productive forces, the core characteristic of the new quality productivity lies in innovation, and the cultivation of new industries has become the best carrier for the development of new quality productivity. In 2023, there will be 290 new high-growth enterprises in Hefei High-tech Zone, bringing the total number to 1,391, 19 new national specialized, special and new "little giant" enterprises and more than 550 national high-tech enterprises, all of which rank in the forefront of the city. From the impetus for innovation, to the future cloth industry, and then to create a first-class business environment, Hefei High-tech Zone is constantly writing a splendid article on high-quality development in the new era with the pen of new quality productivity. As a state-owned enterprise group directly under Hefei High-tech Zone integrating investment, financing, construction, investment promotion, operation and other functional sectors, Hefei High-tech Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hefei High-tech Group") how to contribute to Hefei High-tech Zone to build a new quality of productivity "high" and "new" land? And one of them. In December 2021, Cao Ping, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, initiated the establishment of Hefei Zhongke Elephant Collection, focusing on core technologies such as fast electronics and modular instruments, with a number of scientific and technological achievements from the laboratory to the market.
The image collection team of Zhongke is at the site of CNOOC. Photo courtesy of Zhongke Xiangxiang
"Campus scientific research and operation enterprises, the logic and the rules to be followed are not the same, in the process of identity transformation, Hefei High-tech Group has given a lot of guidance on enterprise management, policy consultation, equity financing, to help us avoid a lot of detours. Cao Ping introduced that when the company was first established, Hefei High-tech Investment Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the high-tech group, took the lead in investing 6 million yuan to solve the problems of capital and space faced by the company at the beginning of its establishment, "The original agreement also included a 3 million yuan equity repurchase agreement, which is undoubtedly an incentive for the enterprise." In recent years, Hefei High-tech Group in the introduction of projects, focusing on the frontier technology field, strategic emerging industries and other directions for layout, a number of highly competitive "seed enterprises", after several years of development, but also the same as the science and technology, completed the transformation from "0" to "1". "In the past two years, everyone has paid special attention to new quality productivity, and behind it, there is actually a focus on scientific and technological innovation and high-quality development. Wang Qiang, chairman of Hefei High-tech Group, introduced that in the process of attracting projects, Hefei High-tech Group pays special attention to original scientific and technological innovation projects, scientific and technological achievements transformation projects such as universities and institutes, and other hard science and technology projects with core intellectual property rights. Compared with the pursuit of high-return venture capital, Hefei High-tech Group's industrial investment is more visionary and patient, "We only invest in enterprises that are in line with the national policy orientation, in line with the direction of industrial development, and in line with the local resource endowment." Wang Qiang said that the high-tech zone is the highland of industrial development and scientific and technological innovation in Hefei, and Hefei High-tech Group will naturally contribute to the high-quality development of Hefei High-tech Zone with its own strength. When he first met Ding Zhe as a "partner" who understands enterprise development, he had just completed the first roadshow of Anhui Navitas Juneng New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Navitas Juneng") for the society. After stepping off the stage, Ding Zhe was quickly surrounded by more than a dozen investment managers to exchange contact information. "Although the company has only been established for a year, most of the members are veterans of the new energy industry, and the products and ideas they talk about are relatively easy to be accepted by the market. In 2023, Ding Zhe and the four co-founders of Navitas Juneng are ready to start a business in the new energy track, and after inspecting many cities in China, they finally chose to settle in Hefei High-tech Zone, which is inseparable from Anhui's key layout in the new energy industry. However, in Ding Zhe's view, an operator that can provide "all-weather, all-round and full-cycle" services is also an important reason to attract enterprises to settle down. In the process of enterprise development, capital, talent, service and other elements are indispensable. In the eyes of many cooperative enterprises, Hefei High-tech Group, which has invested in and incubated high-tech enterprises for a long time, is a "partner" who understands the development of enterprises. Two months is the time for Navitas to complete the seed round of financing of nearly 10 million yuan. At present, it is promoting angel round financing with Hefei Innovation Investment and Hefei High-tech Investment. "Since the company settled in the high-tech zone, every step of development has been steady. As a senior entrepreneur, Ding Zhe attaches great importance to the tacit cooperation between the company and the platform. After Navitas Juneng landed in Hefei High-tech Group's "Tianyi Chuang" maker space, the incubation service team of High-tech Group connected with the needs of enterprises in terms of financing guidance and employment needs, "We want to be in front of everything, do it in practice, and let entrepreneurs concentrate on running enterprises, and we feel the sincerity of High-tech Group to retain enterprises." Ding Zhe said. Also feeling the sincerity of the high-tech group, there is also Anhui Guosheng Quantum Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guosheng Quantum"). With the continuous development of quantum technology, quantum precision measurement and sensing technology is gradually expanding to industrial scenarios. With the ability to perceive extremely weak magnetic fields and temperatures, high-precision quantum sensors have gradually become the development direction of new sensors. In the exhibition hall of Guosheng Quantum Company, the second-generation quantum current sensor jointly developed by Guosheng Quantum and State Grid Electric Power Anhui Company is placed.
Exhibition hall map of Guosheng Quantum Company. Courtesy of Guosheng Quantum
Zhao Bowen, chairman of Guosheng Quantum, introduced that in order to promote the R&D, innovation and engineering development and application of quantum sensors, in recent years, the company's overall development scale has been growing, and the requirements for experimental sites have become higher and higher. "The R&D and manufacturing of high-precision quantum sensors require us to provide independent operating platforms and sites for technology R&D laboratories, product development laboratories and test production lines, which greatly increases the company's space requirements. In April 2022, Zhao Bowen traveled all over the large and small science and technology innovation parks in Hefei with the demand for venues, and in the process, the investment staff of Hefei High-tech Group screened and recommended more than ten venues for enterprises to help them quickly understand the situation of the park. Zhao Bowen, the head of the post-90s science and technology innovation enterprise, was very moved. "At that time, we did not have the current scale, and it was not easy to find a complete and independent space, but Hefei High-tech Group was very interested in the field of sub-technology, which not only helped us find a suitable park, which saved us a lot of time, but also invested 10 million yuan to help us solve some of the financial problems. Zhao Bowen said. In order to provide the most intimate service to all the enterprises that attract projects, Hefei High-tech Group implements project commissioner services, and all projects are clearly identified with one service commissioner, from project contact, negotiation, signing, construction to completion and production, the whole process of "one window" is personalized and substituted for external services. Hefei High-tech Group firmly grasps the primary task of "maintaining and increasing the value of state-owned assets, strengthening and optimizing state-owned capital", with the goal of accelerating the formation of new quality productivity and accelerating the growth of enterprises, and provides enterprises with policy consultation, capital docking, resource linkage, talent recruitment, site support and other full-chain service support. Up to now, Hefei High-tech Group has set up 47 investment funds with a total scale of about 50 billion yuan, and has invested in more than 820 enterprises, including 45 listed companies. In the future, Hefei High-tech Group will continue to base itself on the industrial layout of Hefei High-tech Zone, focus on scientific and technological innovation, build an investment ecosystem, actively explore effective paths, and create a financial service system covering the whole cycle of enterprise growth in the "seed stage-start-up stage-growth stage-maturity stage", adhere to the linkage of investment and recruitment, focus on incubating enterprises in the forward chain, and cultivate leading enterprises in science and technology in the backward chain, fully stimulate innovation vitality, develop new quality productivity, and write a new chapter of high-quality development.
Source: People's Daily Anhui Review: Ma Xiangyu Editor: Li Xiang Proofreader: Li Li