Introduction to China Industrial Parks 

High-tech Industrial Development Zones

In the late 1980s, the Ministry of Science and Technology initiated a program called the “Torch Program.” The main objective of this program is to utilize the technological capacity and resources of research institutes, universities and large and medium-sized enterprises to develop new high-technology products and expedite the commercialization of innovations.

The program manifested itself in the establishment of High-tech Industrial Development Zones (HIDZs). These zones expedite technology diffusion and create synergies among academic and financial institutions, and corporations. In 1988, the first HIDZ was established in Zhongguancun, a small area in northwest Beijing. So far there are 54 state-level HIDZs in China, 28 in coastal regions and 26 in the hinterland.

Although the primary goal was to introduce advanced technologies on a continuous basis, some HIDZs were given the privilege of offering preferential tax policies even to enterprises not in high-tech fields. Many of them function like an ETDZ.

State-level High-tech Industrial Development Zones (HIDZs)

Source: China Knowledge