Innovation-driven industries propel new quality productive forces, turbocharging Hefei’s rapid growth

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By Tu Lei, Zhang Weilan and Ding Yazhi (Global Times) 09:24, May 27, 2024

An inside view of Chaohu Mingyue supercomputer at the Advanced Computing Center in Hefei, East China's Anhui Province on April 17, 2024 Photo: Chen Tao/GT

Hefei, the provincial capital city of East China's Anhui Province, in many aspects is similar to other rapidly developing cities in China. Known for tall buildings and plush office towers, outside a street is nicknamed "Quantum Boulevard," home to a number of cutting-edge technology firms.

Propelled by the local government and companies, the city has attracted global attention in recent years, with some even attributing much of the city's achievement to the "Hefei model", a distinctive strategy for nurturing emerging industries by effectively combining the roles of state-owned capital and private enterprises.

Official data showed that Hefei's GDP has risen to 1.27 trillion yuan ($175 billion) in 2023, up from 416.8 billion yuan in 2012, and its ranking among Chinese mainland cities rose to the 20th from the 31st, a truly "dark horse" if calculated by its GDP growth.

Market insiders and Chinese experts attributed Hefei's development to the tech cluster of pillar industries including NEVs, chips, and AI innovation, as well as new industries including quantum technology. The city, serving as an example of national model of excellence in the realm of new productivity, is in line with the Chinese government's plans to promote new quality productive forces.

Industry clusters

Kong Wansheng, vice president of Hefei-based Guochuang Software Co, still remembers clearly how difficult when he wanted to apply for a telephone for his family in 2000. He had to ask someone to help him get through to it, and had to wait for one month before being hooked up to the mobile network.

The year of 2000 marked the beginning of Guochuang's business in Hefei, when China's telecommunications industry took off. From a school-run enterprise to a Shenzhen stock market listed company, Guochuang primarily engaged in data intelligence products by integrating software and hardware.

Now, any individual can go straight to a shopping mall and get connected to the mobile network in a few minutes, Kong told the Global Times, adding that the reason behind the progress is the deep integration of information technology with telecommunications. In 2023, the revenues reached 251 million yuan ($35.3 million), a growth of 4.78 percent year-on-year, the company said.

"Our company's expansion has been catching up with the pace of China's economic development, and the strategy of developing new quality productive forces has given us more room for further development," Kong said.

The telecommunications industry is only part of the clusters that Hefei is proud of. Other industries including integrated circuits, quantum computing and artificial intelligence are also listed as the city's pillar industries to drive the city's tech progress.

Across the Hefei Advanced Computing Center of Hefei High-tech Zone, there is a blue glass cube covering a length, width and height of more than 10 meters, named "Chaohu Mingyue" supercomputer. Inside it, a giant computer screen occupies 225 square meters on the upper and lower floors. Through the glass, a Global Times reporter saw that the entire giant computer was immersed in a transparent liquid.

"The computers will generate a lot of heat in operation, and the server's operating functions will be affected when the temperature rises, so we designed this electronic fluorinated liquid with a lower boiling point to achieve physical cooling, according to Han Shengjun, vice general manager of Hefei Big Data Asset Operation Co.

If the 1.4 billion people in China are asked to calculate 100 days at a rate of once per second 24 hours a day, "Chaohu Mingyue" supercomputer is able to do it in less than one second.

The giant computer can simultaneously process 3 billion image data, 900,000 hours of voice translation, and 3,000 km of autonomous driving data. Its storage capacity is equivalent to the storage capacity of 120,000 128G mobile phones, and can store approximately 10 billion high-definition pictures, according to Han.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on May 10 stressed accelerating the development of new quality productive forces and improving innovation-driven development capabilities.

During his inspection tour in Anhui Province, Li said that China will increase investment in basic research to support tech innovation. Noting the vitality of science and technology lies in its utilization and benefiting humankind, Li urged for deepening reforms to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into real productive forces.