The vitality of technological innovation is surging in the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, located in the cross-border border area between northern Hong Kong and central southern Shenzhen.
Over the past year, the "Development Plan for the Shenzhen Campus of the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone" and the "Development Outline for the Hong Kong Campus of the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone" have been successively released. The two parks separated by a river have entered a new stage of development of dual park linkage, striving towards the goal of establishing an efficient Shenzhen Hong Kong science and technology innovation collaboration mechanism and building a world-class scientific research hub.
Collaborative Innovation 'Connected'
Hetao is the most direct docking point for Shenzhen Hong Kong technological innovation cooperation, with the 3.02 square kilometer Shenzhen park and the 0.87 square kilometer Hong Kong park separated by only one river. With the launch of the development plan and outline for the Shenzhen Hong Kong Industrial Park, this 3.89 square kilometer cross-border border area between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is rapidly unleashing global technological innovation appeal.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government released the "Development Outline for the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone" on November 20, echoing the national "Development Plan for the Shenzhen Park of the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone" released in August 2023. It proposes four major development directions for the Hetao Hong Kong Park, namely "creating a world-class industry university research platform", "building an internationally competitive industrial pilot transformation base", "creating a global gathering point for innovation and technology resources", and "opening up experimental fields for institutional and policy innovation", and clarifies the development goals for 2030 and 2035.
The day after the release of the Development Outline for the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, Hetao welcomed a major event - the "One Institute, One Center" clinical trial collaboration platform jointly built by Shenzhen and Hong Kong landed in the "One Zone, Two Parks" of Hetao.
The Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Center, established in the Hetao Shenzhen Park, plans to accelerate the transformation and application of clinical trial results through international cooperation projects, sharing data and resources, and promote the high-quality development of the Greater Bay Area biopharmaceutical industry.
The Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Institute, established in the Hetao Hong Kong Park, provides a one-stop clinical trial platform and will gradually launch projects such as the "Hong Kong Clinical Trial Digitalization Platform" and the "Clinical Trial Academy". It will make good use of cross-border convenience measures such as the "Hong Kong Macao Drug and Device Connect" to help innovate biopharmaceuticals "import and export".
Shui Zhiwei, Vice President and Co Head of the Research Department of Unity Hong Kong Fund, believes that taking the Hetao Innovation Policy as a breakthrough point, the "One Institute, One Center" between Hong Kong and Shenzhen will accelerate the research and development transformation of advanced pharmaceutical technologies at home and abroad. The joint construction of the Greater Bay Area Clinical Trial Collaboration Platform will expand the research and development network across Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and enhance the ability to develop new drugs.
Innovative elements' flow '
Over the past year since the release of the "Development Plan for the Shenzhen Campus of the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone", cooperation projects between Shenzhen and Hong Kong have accelerated their landing in Hetao. Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong Institute of Applied Science and Technology, and other institutions have successively entered the Hetao Shenzhen Campus, accelerating the connection between Shenzhen and Hong Kong in collaborative innovation.
Hetao provides unprecedented opportunities for cooperation between scientific research institutions and enterprises in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, especially in terms of policy innovation, talent mobility, and the landing of scientific research projects. Li Huiguang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Institute of Applied Science and Technology, believes that these policies greatly enhance the attractiveness and efficiency of cross-border scientific research cooperation.
More and more Hong Kong science and technology innovation teams are coming to Hetao. The Hong Kong Science Park Shenzhen Branch, which will open in September 2023 in the Hetao Shenzhen Park, is the first research space in mainland China operated by Hong Kong and subject to international management rules. It is also the first science and technology innovation park in Hetao to enjoy unique policies of joint evaluation and support from Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It has now attracted over 50 Hong Kong science and technology innovation institutions and enterprises to settle in.
The reform task of Hetao is to promote the efficient, safe, free, and orderly flow of innovative elements such as personnel, materials, funds, and information, "said Li Hui, Deputy Director of the Shenzhen Park Development Department of Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone.
Chen Furong, Dean of the Shenzhen Futian Research Institute at City University of Hong Kong, who came to work in the Hetao Shenzhen Park in 2020, deeply felt the assistance of Hetao in his research projects. He said, "Our two projects, high spatiotemporal resolution electron microscopy and perovskite solar cells, which we are researching in Hetao, are about to enter the mass production stage
Chen Furong told reporters that City University of Hong Kong plans to invest an additional HKD 120 million in the second phase of its Hetao Shenzhen campus project. In the future, 40 professors will come to Hetao with projects to promote the industrial transformation of technology
Raise the scientific research content
On December 17th, another member was added to the Hetao Pilot Agglomeration Zone, and the Guangdong Province New Optoelectronic Materials and Imaging Device Pilot Platform was officially launched in the Hetao Shenzhen Park.
The pilot platform connects innovation on one end and industry on the other, which is crucial for scientific research achievements to enter enterprises from universities and production lines from laboratories.
The Development Plan for the Shenzhen Industrial Park of the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone clarifies the development positioning of the "Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area Pilot Transformation Agglomeration Zone" and proposes to accelerate the pilot transformation from research and development to engineering, and create an international first-class pilot transformation service platform. The Development Outline of the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone also proposes to build an internationally competitive industrial pilot transformation base.
At present, there are 10 industry level pilot platforms such as the Guangdong Province New Optoelectronic Materials and Imaging Device Pilot Platform that have been awarded licenses in the Hetao Shenzhen Park.
The Hetao Shenzhen Industrial Park is making every effort to promote institutional openness in scientific and technological innovation, and to facilitate the connection of rules and mechanisms between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It aims to establish a fair and competitive scientific research project selection system through the "unveiling and leading system", a flexible and efficient scientific and technological resource allocation system through the "government enterprise linkage system" and "project manager system", an objective and fair scientific research project evaluation system through the "peer review system", and a "talent based" scientific and technological talent evaluation system through the "achievement system, points system, and recommendation system.
The latest data shows that currently, the Hetao Shenzhen Industrial Park has substantially promoted and implemented over 200 high-end scientific research projects, gathered more than 440 technology enterprises, accumulated over 1700 PCT patent applications, and employed over 15000 scientific researchers.
We will make full use of the advantages of the 'one zone and two parks' in Hetao, collaborate with Hong Kong to promote international scientific and technological innovation, and strive to build a world-class scientific research hub, "said Zeng Jianpeng, Director of the Shenzhen Park Development Department of the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone.