Chengdu's High-tech Industrial Development Zone and Tianfu New Area have lined up a range of new projects this year that have attracted investors around the world.

"It is like a magnet for investment with a cluster of very many innovative resources," said Wang Jianya, chairman of Nokia China, when talking about Tianfu New Area.

On April 23, Nokia China Investment Co signed an agreement with the Chengdu committee of the new area to build the telecommunications giant's global research and development center in the new area's Chengdu Science Park.

Both the area and zone focus on high-end industry promotion to appeal to investors, according to local officials.

Tianfu New Area

Tianfu New Area was founded in 2010 and covers the province's three cities, seven counties and 37 townships, including Chengdu, Meishan and Ziyang. The section in Chengdu accounts for 82 percent of the whole area. The new area was approved as a State-level new area in 2014. Since then, it has been backed up with national strategies at the top of the nation's agenda.

On the day the Nokia agreement was signed, deals for three more large projects due to be set up in the Chengdu section of the new area were also signed.

Goke Microelectronics Co, an integrated circuit design company based in Changsha in Hunan province, plans to develop an integrated circuit R D project in Chengdu Science Park. The project is worth 500 million yuan ($78.5 million).

China Construction Technology Consulting Co will invest more than 600 million yuan to build a factory for architecture materials.

Sichuan University has set up funds with the Chengdu committee of the new area to support entrepreneurship and innovation. Both have also stepped up efforts to develop an international medical center and a hospital in the new area.

Wang said that a well-developed industrial chain and the city's high-speed economic growth are what attracted Nokia to the area. According to Wang, the R D center in Chengdu will focus on core network technology and network convergence. The center has already employed a team of 800 and it is still expanding. Wang said the Chengdu project is a significant step for Nokia's restructuring and upgrading. According to the economy and development bureau of Chengdu Tianfu New Area, the biggest advantage of the new area is in the integrated development of high-end industries.

The new area is focusing on advanced manufacturing, modern service and agriculture.

High-tech industrial zone

On May 13, eight large project deals from companies around the world were signed in the high-tech zone with a total worth of more than 4.5 billion yuan.

In June, Chengdu High-tech Industrial Development Zone received approval from the State Council to build the nation's innovation demonstration area.

BASF, a German chemical company, plans to set up a global engineering design center in the high-tech zone. WorleyParsons, Australia's biggest engineering company and partner of BASF's engineering projects, will also set up facilities in the zone with investment of 120 million yuan.

Among the eight projects, three with investment of more than 3.8 billion yuan will be in the high-tech zone's Singapore-Sichuan High-tech Innovation Park.

The park is the only industrial and innovation park in western China jointly developed by Singapore and Sichuan province, making it an important player in promoting cooperation between Singapore and inland regions of China.

The park is also a potential candidate for an upcoming third State-level cooperation project expected between China and Singapore.

According to the high-tech zone, in the future it will keep focusing on its backbone industries, including new information technology, biology, high-end equipment, energy saving and environment protection, as well as producer services. Some emerging industries promoted in the country's latest strategies, such as high-end software and new information services, are also on the high-tech zone's agenda.

According to the area's data, by the end of 2025, the high-tech zone's total value output will reach 1.5 trillion yuan and will be home to 20,000 technology enterprises.

According to the investment promotion bureau of Chengdu, the city attracted 269 large projects during the first half of this year, accounting for 64 percent of the year's objective.

It also agreed on 24 new projects from Fortune 500 companies with total investment of 39.8 billion yuan. The move brings the number of Fortune 500 companies in the city to 268, topping that of all cities in western China.

fuchao@chinadaily.com.cn