According to information from the 2002 National
Torch
Program and Planning Management Meeting, after 14 years of
implementation, more than 21,000 Torch projects, including 7,000 at
the national level, have been implemented. Statistics of 3,501
national torch projects underway show they have achieved 127.96
billion yuan (US$15.45 billion) in gross industrial product value.
They have also brought huge economic and social benefits, and have
now become new growth points of the Chinese economy.
The Chinese government ratified the implementation of the Torch
Program in August 1988. In the ensuing 14 years, it has played a
positive leading and exemplary role, promoting the
industrialization of scientific research, helping to develop
hi-tech industry, transforming and elevating old industries,
promoting the adjustment of the industrial structure, promoting the
growth of the national economy and the development of an advanced
society.
The construction of hi-tech development zones is an important
project within the Torch Program, and there are now 53 of these
throughout the country, with total income of nearly 1,200 billion
yuan (US$144.93 billion) in 2001, 137 times greater than the early
1990s, and an average annual growth rate of 63.5 percent. The zones
have become important bases for developing high technology and
realizing industrialization.
Under the Torch Program flag, a group of high standard enterprise
incubators, university technology zones, software zones and the
zones for returned students to start their own business are
springing up rapidly.
At
present, 20 industrial bases have been built throughout the
country. According to statistics, their total market income was
26.3 billion yuan (US$3.2 billion) in 2001, paying 4.45 billion
yuan (US$537.44 million) in taxes.
(china.org.cn by Wu Nanlan, August 19, 2002)