ZHONG GUAN CUN
Whatever great achievements the future may have in store for China,it is likely that many of them will be born in northwestern Beijing.Zhongguancun, in Beijing's Haidian District, is the new centre for Chinese science and technology. It is home to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and more than ten famous universities, including Peking University and Tsinghua University.
Zhongguancun was set up as a special economic zone in the late 1990s and quickly became the leader of China's hi-tech industry. The science centre got started in the early 1980s, when Chen Chunxian, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, opened a private research and development institute. Within the next ten years, more than a hundred scientific and hi-tech companies moved into the area and new hi-tech centres developed around the original Zhongguancun Garden. They all have their own characteristics, but they all share the spirit of creativity and scientific skill that have made Zhongguancun a success.
The science park is also home to a growing number of overseas Chinese who have grasped the opportunity to develop their ideas at home. Xiang Yufang is one of those who have returned to China after studying and working abroad. Zhongguancun made it possible for him to follow his dreams and help the country he loves.
"I studied abroad because I wanted to see more of the world and work with some of the top scientists in my field. I never felt really comfortable abroad, and I missed everything about China. When I got my master's degree, I wanted to return home but couldn't find a company where I could use what I had learnt. I worked abroad for a few years and then I heard about Zhongguancun. I knew it was perfect for me."
Yufang talked to some friends from his university in Beijing and they helped arrange for his return. He left his job in the foreign company and came back to Beijing.
"I was so happy. It was wonderful, like a dream come true. I could do the work I wanted to do and do something good for my country at the same time. I will never forget how happy I was when I set foot in China again and was back with my friends and family."
Yufang has been in China for three years now and is doing well. He lives in Beijing and runs a small company based in Zhongguancun together with two friends.
Zhongguancun has had a positive effect on business as well as science. Today, there are more than 8,000 hi-tech companies in Zhongguancun. More than half of them are IT companies. The park is home to Chinese computer giants Lenovo and Founder and more than twenty famous international companies. One of the mottos for the park -- "Relying on science, technology and knowledge to increase economic power" -- makes it clear that science and business can and must work together to build the future. Another motto helps explain the success of the park: "Encouraging pioneering work and accepting failure." Great scientific achievements are the results of years of failure, years of trying to create something that has never existed before.
The researchers and scientists in Zhongguancun know that they can only reach the top if they are ready to deal with and/l-earn from failure. Not all the new companies can succeed, but the spirit and creativity they represent are more important than money. As Yufang puts it: "We are not making that much money yet, but we are excited about all the new technology and great ideas that are coming to life in Zhongguancun."
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