A night view of Zhongguancun No.1 in Beijing's Haidian District on December 18, 2021.
Located in the northern part of Beijing’s Zhongguancun Science City is a hi-tech industrial development zone, a patchwork of modern office buildings with a construction area of about 50 hectares. It’s Zhongguancun No.1, a landmark in the science and technology innovation zone of China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and also a representative artificial intelligence (AI) park in Zhongguancun Science City.
With more than 150 hi-tech enterprises in the fields of AI, commercial aerospace, and fintech, the park has taken the lead in the industrial development of science and technology. Its objective is to build an innovation center for global key technology.
Among the companies located there, hi-tech enterprises represent over 70 percent, unicorn companies 5 percent, and listed companies some 7 percent. Around 20 percent are small and medium-sized enterprises which sustain their development with dedication in a niche market, meticulous management and constant innovation. Enterprises in the park own nearly 10,000 intellectual property rights, and create a total output of more than RMB 22 billion.
Being the first fully operational smart park in Beijing’s Haidian District, it has built a convenient service system for enterprises. The park organizes high-level dialogues to assist entrepreneurs in industry communication, and also enriches the daily lives and personal growth of young employees in its community by hosting music festivals, sports games, and matchmaking events.
An autonomous driving vehicle developed by Pony.ai is tested on the road. Photo courtesy of Pony.ai
Intelligent Mobility
With the rapid development of AI, autonomous driving has become a new area of development for the global automotive industry. Application scenarios, such as unmanned shuttles, patrols, delivery, and retail vehicles, have emerged. Many places in China are making plans to expand the testing areas for autonomous driving.
Zhongguancun No.1 boasts an enabling environment for the development of AI industry as it gathers top-notch talents and businesses in China. The park covers various sectors of the AI industry and has formed China’s most powerful innovation cluster. The test road for autonomous driving in the northern area of Zhongguancun Science City has been expanded to 330 kilometers, providing a bigger space and richer application scenarios for the daily testing of related enterprises.
Pony.ai is a leading company in the field of autonomous driving. Peng Jun and Lou Tiancheng wrote the first line of code in this field and founded the company in December 2016 in both China and the U.S. It is committed to providing safe, advanced, and reliable autonomous driving technology and services to help usher in a new future of transportation.
Building on years of research and development, it has created three core lines of business that rely on its “virtual driver” technology – robotaxis, robotrucks, and intelligent driving of passenger vehicles. As of August 2024, the company had accumulated over 35 million kilometers of autonomous driving mileage on a testing basis.
Pony.ai has obtained driverless testing and operating permits in many places in China. It has launched unmanned driving fleets in four Chinese mega cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and its commercial taxi services are being operated in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
Recently, it tested autonomous driving vehicles going between the Beijing South Railway Station and Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area in the south of Beijing, becoming one of the first enterprises conducting such a test. This is also the first time that Beijing has allowed driverless testing in its core urban area.
Zhang Ning, vice president of Pony.ai and head of the company’s R&D center in Beijing, said that autonomous driving is a typical scenario for developing new quality productive forces. Autonomous driving can improve urban traffic efficiency, reduce accident risks and transportation costs, create social and economic value, and bring users a new travel experience by transforming the vehicle into a third space apart from their workplace and home. At the same time, intelligent vehicles and driverless technology have become strategic opportunities to promote high-quality development of the automotive industry as they are expected to create a multi-trillion-dollar market.
Technicians at Minospace work to independently develop satellites. Photo courtesy of Minospace
Commercial Satellites
The north of Haidian District, where the Zhongguancun No.1 park is located, is also home to many commercial aviation enterprises. Seven years ago, Minospace built its presence in Zhongguancun No.1 to provide satellite R&D and manufacturing services.
In 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense jointly released a medium and long-term plan (2015-25) for building national civil aviation infrastructure. The document explicitly encourages private enterprises to grow the commercial aerospace industry. Answering the call, Gao Enyu founded Minospace in August 2017 and dedicated himself to the fledgling sector of satellite manufacturing.
Gao has rich experience in the aerospace field. He worked at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology and the China Academy of Space Technology, and participated in the designing of many satellites and rockets.
Minospace independently develops satellite platforms, core components, ground communication terminals and gateway stations. After seven years of development, it has secured more than 300 patents and created eight satellite platforms.
In satellite manufacturing, it follows state-of-the-art design principles and manufacturing process, and has improved the performance and reliability of satellites. It also uses new materials to make its satellites lighter and more resistant to radiation and high temperatures, enabling them to better adapt to complex space environments.
So far, the company has successfully launched 25 satellites. On January 23, 2024, five satellites developed by Minospace were launched into orbit. Key technologies used in the five satellites filled the gaps in multiple fields of commercial satellites in China.
Minospace also explores scenarios for satellite applications. On July 5, 2024, a dam breach occurred in Dongting Lake, central China’s Hunan Province. The company dispatched a series of satellites that monitored the incident site and reported the potential risks to relevant departments in real time until the embankment was enclosed.
Satellites made by Minospace have also been used in agriculture. With crops monitored by satellites, farmers are informed of the growing conditions, potential risks and yield estimations. Manpower can be put into agricultural production in the most efficient manner.
Young employees take part in a camping activity organized by the park. Photo courtesy of Zhongguancun No.1
Digital Finance
Many people have had the irritating experience of waiting in long queues to get an invoice. Baiwang Cloud made this a thing of the past. Today, people can get an electronic invoice instantly by scanning a QR code on their bills.
Baiwang Cloud in the Zhongguancun No.1 park works on data-driven innovation, providing digital solutions and services, such as invoice compliance management, intelligent finance and taxation service, and intelligent risk control to governments, companies, and public organizations over the nine years since its founding.
In 2015, China’s State Taxation Administration began to implement a policy of replacing business tax with value-added tax in sectors such as construction, real estate, finance, and life services. This meant that the number of enterprises that paid value-added tax would expand from around 500 to about 13 million. Chen Jie, founder of Baiwang Cloud, seized the huge market opportunity and embarked on the exploration of digital invoice business.
Chen worked in the field of information security technology before starting her business adventure, and had participated in several government information system projects. Based on her 15-year expertise in information security, she and her team created a complete electronic invoice system, and later the first cloud platform in China.
The business of her company covers services for procurement optimization, account checking and settling, electronic invoice management, smart finance and taxation, payments, and financing. Through its online, automated, and intelligent service system, Baiwang Cloud has helped the digital transformation of many industries.
Today, Baiwang Cloud has provided digital taxation services to over 2,000 big corporations and over 23 million growing businesses in fields such as finance, retail, insurance, manufacturing, education, energy, and life services. On July 9, 2024, Baiwang Cloud was officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It promises to continually improve innovation and expand service boundaries, and work together with customers, partners, and investors to embrace new opportunities in the global capital market.
With hi-tech enterprises like these, Zhongguancun No.1 will continue to attract talent and emerge as a driving force for high-quality industrial development.
