GSF highlights Nansha's impressive tech achievements

Themed "Industry-Research Integration Drives Smart Innovation in the GBA", the 2025 Greater Bay Area Science Forum (GSF) will be held simultaneously in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao from Dec 6 to 8. 

The opening ceremony and main forum will take place in Nansha, Guangzhou on the morning of Dec 7. As a crucial region for technological innovation, Nansha district has driven the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, delivering an impressive technology "report card".

Strategic Layout and Upgrading of Sci-Tech Platform Levels 

The "Overall Development Plan of Nansha Science City in Guangzhou Municipality (2022-35)" has been approved and officially issued by the provincial government, and the Science City Management Committee has been established. By signing strategic agreements with the Dongguan Songshan Lake High-tech Industrial Development Zone and Shenzhen's Guangming district, Nansha Science City, Songshan Lake Science City, and Guangming Science City have worked together to develop the Greater Bay Area Comprehensive National Science Center.

Additionally, 11 academicians and top experts have been appointed as development consultants for Nansha Science City. A total of 263 innovation platforms at or above the provincial level have been established, with provincial-level high-level innovation research institutes accounting for one-third of Guangzhou's total.

University-Locality Integration Empowers Accelerated Achievements Transformation

Since its opening in September 2022, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) has established 15 central laboratories, 25 themed laboratories, and a series of workshops. It has obtained approval for one Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory and 11 Guangzhou Municipal Key Laboratories, with several laboratories achieving internationally leading standards.

The innovation zone around HKUST(GZ) has commenced construction, and the Sci-Tech Achievements Transfer and Transformation Base has attracted 41 enterprises (projects) to settle in. The Nansha sub-center of the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou has built the nation's first supercomputing power network dedicated line directly connecting to Hong Kong, filling the gap in Hong Kong's lack of world-leading supercomputing capabilities. It has also served over 260 teams from Hong Kong, Macao, and overseas, providing a cumulative total of 300 million core-hours of computing support.

Industrial Innovation Emerges with Dual-Driving Forces of Capital and Talent

Nansha's R&D investment intensity has reached 5.48 percent, ranking second in the city. The total number of high-tech enterprises has reached 1,310, with an average annual growth rate of 21.5 percent since the release of the Nansha Plan.

In terms of financial support, Guangzhou Nansha New Area Science and Technology Innovation Guidance Fund of Funds has leveraged subsidiary funds with a total scale exceeding 18 billion yuan ($2.54 billion), investing back into 72 projects.

The Sci-Tech Credit Risk Compensation Fund Pool has leveraged bank credit lines of 7.16 billion yuan, with loans disbursed amounting to 4.95 billion yuan. Over 60 percent of the projects covered by the pool's loans are high-tech enterprise projects.

Full-Cycle Talent Policies, International Sci-Tech Activities Shine

Since the launch of the Talent Gathering Action Plan, promotional events have been held in places like Guangzhou University Town, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Macau University of Science and Technology. It has attracted 314 Hong Kong, Macao, and overseas Chinese youth and 99 mainland university students for internships. A total of 87 various online and offline public welfare job fairs have been organized, resulting in the actual recruitment of over 25,000 people. More than 1,000 high-level foreign talents have been introduced cumulatively, and the service system for foreign experts and high-level talents from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan has been improved.

For major events, three sessions of the Greater Bay Area Science Forum have been held, attracting over 300 academicians and more than 10,000 experts.

Sustained Investment Empowers Basic Research to Build the Future Foundation

The application guidelines for science and technology projects in key areas have been released every year for the past four years, with an investment of approximately 200 million yuan to help tackle key technologies, carry out R&D of industrial common technologies, and solve enterprise challenges through open solicitation. One hundred and nineteen projects have been implemented, covering areas such as new-generation information technology, marine technology, high-end manufacturing, and biomedicine.