The State Council agrees to adjust the size and layout of the Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone, expanding it from 10 parks to 16 to enhance its innovative capacity.

Zhongguancun will focus on the development of modern services and 10 strategic emerging industries in the coming years to strengthen its role as a demonstration area for innovation.

By 2015, the total sales revenue of its emerging industries, such as mobile Internet and satellite applications, is expected to surpass 2.5 trillion yuan ($402 billion), accounting for 70 percent of the city's total in emerging industries.

A group of new service organizations brought their innovative ability and expertise to the Zhongguancun research hub, providing startups with such services as team-building, business incubation and follow-up consultation.

Nine ministries and the Beijing municipal government jointly issued the first State-level document on technology financing in August, which set a goal of developing Zhongguancun into a national technology financing innovation center by 2020.

The Zhongguancun Stock Transfer Agent System enrolled 79 companies, bringing the total number up to 182. The system had raised capital totaling more than 2.2 billion yuan ($353 million) for 49 companies by the end of 2012.

A national over-the-counter market will be built based on it. The system is now also available in three other industrial development zones, which are located in Shanghai, Wuhan and Tianjin

The International Standards Organization approved another four new standards formulated by Zhongguancun's Intelligent Grouping and Resource Sharing alliance, plus three standards that have already been approved, making it have the first complete ISO standards in China's 3C-Convergence industry.

Some 600 professionals in the Zhongguancun innovation zone made the list of central government's Thousand Talent Program in 2012, accounting for 78 percent of the city's total and 21 percent of the country's total.

Zhongguancun-based Crystal CG, developer of the animated graphics used at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, once again impressed global viewers in the 2012 London Olympics.

Zhongguancun made breakthroughs in the biomedical area, specifically liver-related research and illness treatment.

A group of experts at the National Institute of Biological Sciences in the zone was the first in the world to locate the hepatitis B virus receptor. The finding reveals the key process of hepatitis B virus infection, which will be helpful in developing new drugs.

In addition, Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy, located at the Zhongguancun Life Science Park, and Xiamen University jointly unveiled the world's first hepatitis E-prevention vaccine.

Four Zhongguancun companies received gold prizes at the 2012 China Patent Awards, accounting for one-fifth of the country's total winners.

(Source: China Daily)