Tech parks lure top businesses, spur innovation
Print Edition
Galaxy Digital Entertainment Network Co Ltd is a young but rapidly growing video-game studio located in Putou District’s Tiandi Software Park.
The company has over 500 employees working in 10 departments and rents some 4,000 square-meters of office space spread across three floors.
Like many of China’s up-and-coming tech enterprises though, the company rose from humble beginnings, with little more than a handful of computers and a shared passion for gaming among its founders.
Most of Galaxy Digital’s games — including its award-winning mobile game titled “Wujianyu” (Infernal Hell) — run on the widely-used Unity 3D development platform, created by Denmark-based Unity Technologies.
By the end of last year, the Unity platform was being used in about three-quarters of China’s 3D mobile games, and about one-third of Unity-based game developers were in the country.
“We actually followed in the footsteps of Unity to settle in Putuo District,” said Shan Shengling, CEO of Galaxy Digital Entertainment Network.
In 2014, Unity collaborated with the Tiandi Software Park to establish the Unity-Tiandi Port Innovation Zone. So far, both sides of the project have cooperated in various fields, such as information systems, mobile Internet development, talent training and entrepreneurship.
Unity isn’t the only industry-leading technology company that’s formed a cooperative project in the park. Authorities there have also teamed up with Microsoft (China) to establish a game innovation zone aimed at startups in the park.
Altogether, eight such sub-areas have been opened in the park in cooperation with authorities.
For companies like Galaxy Digital, the Tiandi Software Park and its related zones offer access to the technologies and supportive policies they need to expand.
“The strength of our products is our core competitive feature, and having communication and technical support (from Unity) is a key element to our success,” explained Shan.
Over recent years, emerging enterprises and start-ups have played an increasingly significant role in leading innovation. Many see the establishment of specialized industrial zones and business incubation hubs as a factor behind this recent trend. Such areas are also considered key to the continued healthy development of China’s tech sector.
According to officials, the two cooperative projects involving Microsoft and Unity have encouraged some 30 mobile enterprises to settle in the Tiandi Software Park.
Together, the park is now home to more than 100 companies, most of which specialize in digital media, online games and IT services.
Over recent years, officials in Putuo have accelerated efforts to restructure traditional industries and devote more resources and policy support to local innovative enterprises.
Toward this end, an array of industrial zones and related areas have been established in the district.
District officials have also cooperated with local colleges and institutions — including Shanghai Electrical Apparatus Research Institute and East China Normal University — on the creation of technologic development and research platforms.
For Putuo, these efforts seem to be paying off. In the first half of 2015, nine of the district’s industrial parks recorded 20.05 billion yuan (US$3.23 billion) in total operating revenue and contributed 1.12 billion yuan to the local tax base. The 195 software and information service enterprises in the district raked in a revenue of 4.41 billion yuan, a 16 percent increase over the same period of last year.
Looking ahead, Putuo authorities say they will continue to roll out new measures and initiatives to promote innovation and cultivate the local business environment.
Many of these measures will also focus on industrial parks, incubators and group innovation spaces.
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