The tone of Hefei

What kind of city is Hefei? If you want to understand the tone of Hefei, where should you start?

"This is an inclusive city," said the person from Hefei. The government staff here can introduce various scientific and technological achievements like scientists, and also tell newcomers to go to Lei Street to experience the urban life and fireworks of this 2000 year old historical and cultural city.

Innovation is a race against the times, and "a famous city in the Great Lakes and an innovative highland" is the first impression that this city presents to outsiders. Yu Aihua, a member of the Standing Committee of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Hefei Municipal Party Committee, recently publicly stated: to stimulate vitality and form new productive forces with a good ecology. New quality productivity is the pursuit and confidence of Hefei. From the world's first quantum science experimental satellite "Mozi", the world's first fully superconducting tokamak EAST device, to domestically produced DRAM storage chips, direct write lithography machines... Shuttling through this city, one can feel the ubiquitous "science city" atmosphere.

Hefei is a growing "science city", but it goes beyond that. The corners of children's playgrounds hide deep artist workshops, and the countryside has cutting-edge technologies brought by professors from the University of Science and Technology of China. In the latest 2023 list of cities with the strongest sense of happiness among entrepreneurs, Hefei once again ranks among them, becoming one of the 10 cities with the strongest sense of happiness among entrepreneurs. Recently, a major online media event in the Yangtze River Delta, hosted by the Cyberspace Administration of the Hefei Municipal Party Committee and hosted by Pengpai News, showcased the "big city" and "small details" of Hefei to more people.

Firm Longtermism

"Building an innovative ecosystem that dares to explore and try, achieving 'as long as it is worth it, we will definitely give up'; building an industrial ecosystem that integrates clusters, achieving 'not afraid of wrong investment, not afraid of missing out'; building a national first-class business ecosystem, achieving 'not the best, learning the best'. At the 2023 World Manufacturing Conference - China Manufacturing Private Enterprise Cooperation and Exchange Matchmaking Conference, Yu Aihua, as the Secretary of the Hefei Municipal Party Committee, conveyed the urban character of Hefei to entrepreneurs.".

The best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago, followed by now. In Hefei, "trees from 10 years ago" can be seen everywhere, which is a city that adheres to long-term principles. The people in this city have firm goals, can withstand loneliness, and can grow. There are stories of four generations, half a century, and only sticking to one thing, as well as the goal of truly achieving nuclear fusion power generation 100 years before the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The well-known adherence to long-term principles in Hefei cannot be separated from the creation of the sun. Four generations, after half a century of accumulation and precipitation, have only achieved their dream of being the first to generate electricity through nuclear fusion. The picture of "Kua Fu Chasing the Sun" on the wall reflects the persistence, perseverance, and fearlessness of scientific researchers. "Our goal is to truly realize nuclear fusion power generation 100 years before the founding of the People's Republic of China, and this must be the first power generation in the world." Ye Hualong, deputy secretary of the Youth League of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Hefei Academy of Materials and secretary of the Youth League of the Institute of Plasma Physics, said.

From the 1970s, when the University of Science and Technology of China moved south to Hefei, the city spared no effort in ensuring the lives of its faculty and students. By 2008, Hefei had invested one-third of the city's fiscal revenue in BOE, and by 2016, it had invested more than 10 billion yuan in semiconductor enterprises. In 2020, it had been an emergency blood transfusion for NIO, which had fallen into a slump. The perseverance of Hefei comes from planting trees and flowers at the beginning, and after years of careful care, it finally blooms and bears fruit.

In the past decade, the proportion of science and technology investment in general public budget expenditure in Hefei has increased from 4% to 17.8%. Hefei's GDP has also jumped from 416.798 billion yuan in 2012 to 12013 trillion yuan in 2022, spanning eight hundred billion yuan levels. In the first quarter of this year, the total GDP of Hefei was 269.06 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than the national growth rate. Among the trillion yuan GDP cities in the Yangtze River Delta, the growth rate ranks third.

Exquisite fusion innovation

In 2016, Han Dongcheng, who was still a student, and his classmates founded Dongchao Technology. Based solely on a brief introduction on the Japanese company's official website, relying on professional knowledge and dedicated research, coupled with technical support from the University of Science and Technology of China, in just a few years, they developed and manufactured the first domestically produced equivalent negative refractive index flat lens, breaking through foreign monopolies and successfully mastering interactive aerial imaging technology.

The advanced technological achievements of enterprises, such as the "air button" at the Beijing Winter Olympics, non-contact medical self-service machines in hospitals, and intelligent elevator control in buildings, are being applied in an increasing number of scenarios. Next year, the intelligent hand washing device developed by the enterprise will board the "Fuxing" train, providing more hygienic and convenient services for passengers across the country.

While achieving technological breakthroughs, Dongchao Technology has also evolved from a startup team of less than 10 people from a junior high school to a star company valued at 3 billion yuan. The company has applied for more than 600 intellectual property rights and moved its office to Zhong'an Chuanggu Science and Technology Park located in Hefei High tech Zone.

As the core area of the "Silicon Valley of the University of Science and Technology", Zhong'an Innovation Valley has settled in 2 headquarters of listed companies, 26 subsidiaries of listed companies, and 68 high growth enterprises such as Chuying, Gazelle, and Unicorn. A number of high-end research and development institutions and technology innovation enterprises, such as Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, Jianghuai Frontier Technology Center, Anhui Stock Exchange Center, Tencent Holdings, Huami Technology, Eco Optoelectronics, Zhongke Xingtu, Benyuan Quantum, and Dongchao Technology, are gathered here.

If Zhong'an Innovation Valley is closely related to the University of Science and Technology of China, then the Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Research Institute of Hefei University of Technology is a model of cooperation between Hefei and another local university. As a new research and development institution that cooperates in the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, high-tech cultivation, and the integration of industry and education talent cultivation, the Intelligent Institute has "supported more than 70 scientific research teams with engineering and industrialization foundations to carry out achievement transformation and industrialization cultivation, of which more than 30 scientific and technological achievements have been directly transformed." said Zhu Xiaoyong, Vice President of the Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Research Institute of Hefei University of Technology.

Innovation brings vitality. Relying on the industrial foundation, scientific and technological innovation resources, and leading enterprise iFlytek in Hefei, China Sound Valley has formed a development pattern of "incubation zone core zone expansion zone"; Promoting technological achievements from the "laboratory" to the "big market", the Anhui Innovation Museum gathers a vivid industrial landscape of Hefei's "core screen automotive integration, urgent lifelong intelligence"; Focusing on artificial intelligence vision, China Vision has become an important carrier for the key development of artificial intelligence supporting services in Hefei; Aiming at the integration of culture, creativity, and technology, Binhu Excellence City is cultivating emerging industries such as creative culture, technological innovation, and modern finance, and building the most charming new urban space in Hefei and even Anhui.

Rich humanistic expression

Today in Hefei, people are more concerned about science and technology innovation, but in fact, there is also rich culture here. With a history of over 2000 years, Hefei has never lacked culture, let alone cultural life. The ancient town and village are the charm of Luzhou here, and comic exhibitions and performances are the trend of the times here. Walking through the streets and alleys of Hefei, one embarks on a journey full of unexpected encounters.

There are 19 provincial-level millennium ancient towns and 8 provincial-level millennium ancient villages scattered throughout the ancient land of Hefei. Here you can enjoy the Chilan Bridge described by Jiang Kui, the Chenghuang Temple of Hefei with a history of 1000 years, and the Mingjiao Temple of Hefei with a history of 2000 years; You can also experience the charm of the Three Kingdoms culture and taste the unique flavors of Chinese time-honored brands Liu Hongsheng's winter mushroom chicken dumplings and Zhan's peach pastry

In Cuigang Village, Shisangang Township, Luyang District, one will encounter an art teacher who has persisted for several years, only to restore the model of the earliest Tang Dynasty palace style wooden structure in China - the Buddha's Light True Appearance Zen Temple. Cuigang Village, with a permanent population of only over 400 people, has 74 artists and teachers settled in. In the past decade, a series of cultural activities have been held, attracting nearly 500000 tourists.

The Yiku Cultural and Creative District in Luzhou, located in the same area as Luyang District, offers a rich and diverse experience brought by the clustering of garden style cultural and creative industries. In just one year since its establishment, 35 well-known cultural and creative brands and enterprises, including Yang Chongguang Art Studio, DJI Education, Flavor Quan, Yunqi Technology Smart Home Exhibition Hall, Gama Jiacuo Tibetan Cultural Museum, Good Wine Invisible Music Restaurant, and Lao An Creative Catering Collection, have successively settled here.

In the Binhu Wetland Forest Park, you will encounter waterways crisscrossing and waterfowl fluttering. The Hefei Binhu National Forest Park, covering an area of 1072 hectares, is located in Baohe District and is truly the "kidney" and "lung" of the city. At Weimei Motan, you will encounter the "Baiding Library" hidden in the forest.

Currently, the 2023 World Manufacturing Conference is being held in Hefei. From a traditional agricultural province to a manufacturing powerhouse on the path of innovation, Anhui is undergoing a transformation, and Hefei is a prominent highlight in this global glory. In the future, this city will see more new changes.