Lingang Special Area starts building new global innovation zone

Construction began on Monday on a new international innovation zone in the coastal Lingang Special Area – part of the Shanghai (Pilot) Free Trade Zone – focusing on cutting-edge technology industries such as artificial intelligence and integrated circuits.

The aim is to accelerate innovative growth, expand Shanghai's R&D talent pool with both local and domestic researchers, and achieve other technological advancements.

The Lingang zone will feature a community for frontier scientists with the aim of creating breakthroughs in global science, and tasked with building a unique reservoir of science resources within 50 years.

The community will feature a 100,000-square-meter R&D innovation hub focusing on life sciences and artificial intelligence.

Construction is set to be completed in May 2023.

The community will also feature the permanent site for the World Laureates Forum that is now running along the Dishui Lake of Lingang.

Structures for that feature have been roofed, and it is set to begin operation for the next forum in October next year.

And a technology transfer center is due for completion in August 2023.

The zone also aims to become a cluster of innovation businesses, especially headquarters of science and technology companies.

Construction of 23 projects such as chip designer Cambricon have already started.

And more than 1 million square meters of R&D buildings are already operational, accommodating over 300 R&D institutions and 5,000 researchers.

By the end of the 14th Five-Year plan (2021-2025), , the zone is expected to have attracted over 30 top scientific research institutions and scientists' work stations, 30,000 to 50,000 talents, and over 1,000 new R&D institutions.