Authors¡G ChinaDaily

The first city in China to propose developing the new economy, Chengdu has grown into one of the most suitable investment destinations for the sector in China.

Based on its solid foundation in electronics, the new economy led by digital and smart technologies has performed strongly in Chengdu, made evident by the growing number of operations by multinationals and domestic giants.

A recent significant move was made by Siemens, which launched its smart manufacturing innovation center in Chengdu on May 21.

Focuses of the new Siemens center include innovation, research and development in smart manufacturing as well as training of skilled personnel, according to the company.

"Currently, the global manufacturing industry is facing a new round of industrial transformation. Smart manufacturing, which is characterized by accelerated convergence of information technology and manufacturing, has become a development trend," said Tony Hemmelgarn, president and CEO of Siemens PLM Software.

"Grasping industry trends, boosting corporate transformation, radiating more around surrounding areas and even leading the transformation trend in the country, this is the common vision of Siemens and the Chengdu government," he added.

It is the second tech center that Siemens has built in the city, following its industrial software global R&D center, which started operation last year. The software R&D center focuses on the development of the MindSphere operating system for the internet of things.

The smart manufacturing center is located near the company's industry automation products manufacturing and development base - a Siemens Global Industrial 4.0 benchmark plant.

The centers and base are expected to introduce a large number of Siemens' global expert resources, software and hardware R&D platform, industry knowledge and business practices to Chengdu, upgrading the local manufacturing industry, according to local officials.

Also in May, Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei and display manufacturer BOE Technology Group signed an agreement in Chengdu for the use of BOE's flexible displays in Huawei smartphones.

The move is expected to make BOE's flexible display plant in Chengdu the world's largest, the two companies said in a news release.

Industry insiders said the partnership is expected to attract more related companies to invest in Chengdu, helping the city develop a world-class electronics industrial cluster.

A number of large electronics projects have already been launched in Chengdu this year, including a 50-billion-yuan ($7.24 billion) project funded by Tsinghua Unigroup for integrated circuits, big data, cloud computing and intelligence operations. In addition, a 5-billion-yuan chip R&D base by New H3C and an Hikvision security products R&D base that will offer 10,000 jobs in five years has also been launched.

Biopharmaceuticals is another important part of Chengdu's new economy, which also achieved rapid growth this year.

Since the beginning of this year, Chengdu has attracted 113 projects in this field, with combined investment amounting to 100 billion yuan, according to the local statistics bureau.

Ferid Murad, a Nobel laureate from the United States who attended a biomedicine summit dialogue in Chengdu, said the size of the biomedicine park in the city is beyond his imagination and he believes the park will form a huge biomedicine cluster in three to five years.

Canada-based Global Drug Commercialization Center was one of the sponsors of the summit dialogue. Its CEO, Karimah Es Sabar, said GDCC will help introduce four to five projects from renowned overseas universities like Harvard and MIT to the biomedicine park this year.

Chengdu has achieved significant growth in its new economy sectors this year. Local statistics show 3,840 enterprises in new economy sectors were added to Chengdu in the first quarter of this year. The city has 42,000 enterprises operating in these sectors by the end of March, a year-on-year growth of 27 percent.