The coastal city of Tianjin, with its hundred-year history of industrial development, is now looking to transform its development structure - from energy- and resource-intensive to sustainable, high-tech and innovative.
Zhang Gaoli, Tianjin's Party chief, has emphasized that "increasing our innovative skills and building an innovative city are critical in our economic development as is changing our industrial structure".
In October 2009, the National Defense Technology University, cooperating with Tianjin's Binhai New Area, developed the "Tianhe-I" - a supercomputer that can perform at least 1 quadrillion calculations per second. China's supercomputer TOP 100 list ranked the "Tianhe-I" in first place in 2009. This is a major innovation in China's strategic technology and equipment sector, and puts China second in the world, after the United States, in the development of petaflop-level supercomputers.
In fact, Tianjin has more to be proud of than just the Tianhe-1. More powerful supercomputer, super all-steel radial tire formers, a superconductive current limiter and spiral computer tomography are other examples of Tianjin's exceptional innovations.
Since 2008, Tianjin has launched several hundred projects, with a total investment of 40.1 billion yuan ($6.28 billion), 9.6 billion of which was for R&D in industrialization projects.
These projects and the investments have accelerated the scientific, technological innovation and industrialization process and the city is clearly moving toward a high-tech, high quality future.
Under the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), Tianjin was given nearly 4,000 different projects, according to the Tianjin Science and Technology Commission. These included the National Science and Technology Project, Program 863, Program 973, and the National Science & Technology Pillar Program, with national financing of 4 billion yuan.
Supercomputers will drive transformation
The Tianjin Dawning Information Industry Co Ltd has reported an output of 500,000 computer servers annually, putting it at the center of Asia's largest high-performance computer manufacturing hub.
According to Nie Hua, vice-president of the company, Tianjin has seen rapid economic growth and is focusing on top industries. One example he cited was the aviation industry, which is taking shape there and has stimulated growth at Dawning Information Industry Co Ltd.
In the petroleum sector, the China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) Tianjin Branch is also using Dawning's high-performance computer system.
"I believe the application of supercomputers should be our ultimate R&D goal. High-performance computers are in great need for the most sophisticated manufacturing processes in sectors such as aviation and aerospace, energy and biological pharmaceuticals.
"These areas will flourish as industries improve and the city develops. We hope that Dawning's products are used by Tianjin's industries to better serve the city's transformation," Nie said.
When the global supercomputer TOP 500 website released its Top 500 list on May 31, 2010, Dawning's "Nebulae" supercomputer, developed at its Tianjin base, ranked No 2. In addition, the Dawning 6000 computer, which has a computing speed of 1,000 trillion operations per second, was developed independently and unveiled in Tianjin. It is based on the Nebulae, but with substantial improvements and more functions.
New energy promises strategic advantages
Tianjin has developed its alternative energy segment by leaps and bounds in the new century, based on its industrial maturity, R&D capabilities and strong economy.
This sector has become one of its most promising strategic areas, with three major segments: wind-power generators, green cells and solar panels. The latter two occupy a third of China's market. The energy storage sector also has a dominating position domestically.
The Tianjin Lishen Battery Joint-stock Co Ltd has the country's only lithium ion battery technology center.
Its scientific and technical innovation system is centered on lithium ion batteries and super capacitors and it is one of the world's top 10 lithium ion battery manufacturers.
Qin Xingcai, president of the company, has said that, under the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), Lishen expects to put 18 billion yuan into commercializing alternative-energy-powered vehicles and energy storage technology.
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