Changsha held a conference on persistently building the "Three Hubs" and accelerating high-quality development on the first working day after the Spring Festival holiday. The "Changsha's Action Plan for Building a Sci-Tech Innovation Hub with Core Competitiveness and a Global R&D Center in 2026" was issued at the meeting. The Action Plan outlines a clear "construction blueprint" and "roadmap" for this year's sci-tech innovation work. This will further enhance the overall effectiveness of the innovation system and promote the deep integration of sci-tech and industrial innovation.

Main Objectives: Target Key Indicators

The Action Plan specifies the main goals and tasks: the growth rate of total R&D expenditure will reach approximately 8.5%, and the proportion of basic research expenditure in total R&D expenditure will exceed 10%. This signifies that Changsha will place greater emphasis on original innovation "from 0 to 1."

In terms of platform construction, around 50 new R&D centers of "Five-category" enterprises  and over 400 various scientific and technological R&D institutions will be added. Meanwhile, the city aims to achieve breakthroughs in over 130 key industrial technologies, including more than 15 globally leading and independently controllable technologies (products), highlighting Changsha's determination to tackle challenges in key core technologies.

Enterprises are the main drivers of innovation. The Action Plan sets targets that the number of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises will reach 12,500, with 1,000 scientific and technological achievements (or enterprises) transformed and incubated. The turnover of contracts on technological development, consultation, and service will grow by 15%. A total of eight billion CNY in knowledge-based loans will be disbursed.

The Science and Technology Committee of the CPC Changsha Municipal Committee will continuously strengthen overall coordination on the city's planning, policies, platforms, and other sci-tech innovation key tasks, to ensure the implementation of the Action Plan's goals and tasks, adopting a coordinated approach for sci-tech innovation. The Office of the Science and Technology Committee of the CPC Changsha Municipal Committee will establish a regular review mechanism for major tasks, indicators, and projects, promptly addressing bottlenecks and challenges.

Key Tasks: Synergistic Efforts Across Seven Major Systems

Centering on the above objectives, the Action Plan systematically sets out 18 key tasks across seven major areas, which are interlinked and synergistic.

Changsha will build high-quality innovation carriers and accelerate core engines. The Xiangjiang Science Town, the core engine of the sci-tech innovation hub, will see critical progress this year. The architectural complex of the Xiangjiang Science Center will be fully completed and officially put into use, aiming to cultivate over 15 high-level research institutions throughout the year. Major projects such as the Xiangjiang Innovation Hall, the Hunan Advanced Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Sci-Tech Innovation Center of Hunan University, the Technology Research Institute of Hunan Iron and Steel Group, and the Sci-Tech Innovation Center of Hunan Normal University will also advance steadily. Concurrently, leveraging the Xiangjiang Science Town as a carrier, a provincial-level "sci-tech innovation enclave" agglomeration area will be built. Accelerating the construction of innovation carriers within the agglomeration area, the "Three Bases in One Area" initiative aims to cultivate 50 R&D institutions throughout the year. Full efforts will be made to promote the integrated development of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster; deepen the comprehensive reform pilot for market-based allocation of factors in the cluster; and, seek to establish a national-level regional sci-tech innovation center.

Changsha will establish an innovation platform development system with high capacity. It will actively support the building of the "1+2" national laboratory system, promoting the layout of national laboratories and bases in Changsha in such fields as seed industry and energy. Changsha will highlight characteristic and advantageous fields like cultural technology and advanced manufacturing, cultivating and constructing national-level innovation platforms. It will take every effort to secure the inclusion of the national major sci-tech infrastructure for TCM genetic resource research in the national layout. Changsha will continuously promote the construction of Hunan's "4+4 Sci-tech and Innovation Projects" in Changsha. Simultaneously, it will support the expansion and upgrading of municipal-level sci-tech innovation platforms, deploying a batch of high-level municipal sci-tech innovation platforms in key fields such as advanced computing, aerospace and marine technology, and innovative drug. The city will also advance quality and efficiency improvements in sci-tech innovation platforms, striving to increase the proportion of globally oriented sci-tech innovation platforms—in terms of function, R&D tasks, resources, and application of results—to 15%.

Changsha will create a high-quality cultivation system for sci-tech enterprises. It will strengthen the leading role of enterprises in innovation, fostering and increasing leading sci-tech enterprises. Changsha will support leading sci-tech enterprises in forming innovation consortia and taking the lead in undertaking major scientific research tasks. It will  help sci-tech enterprises scale up and upgrade—from high-tech to large-scale, and from large-scale to high-tech. The city will also help small sci-tech service firms grow to above designated size.

Changsha will set up a high-level system for key technology breakthroughs. Focusing on Changsha's "4433" modern industrial system, the city will release its top 10 sci-tech breakthrough projects, advancing municipal-level "Open Competition" projects and major sci-tech special projects with expanded scope and improved efficiency. Changsha will implement a batch of major sci-tech breakthrough projects including vertical large models and AI chips. It will carry out approximately 300 projects funded by natural science foundation, prospectively deploying an array of cutting-edge future industrial technologies such as quantum technology, gene technology, and brain-computer interfaces. The city will also advance "AI Plus" sci-tech innovation, exploring new AI-driven scientific research paradigms.

Changsha will establish a high-efficiency system for sci-tech commercialization. It will strive to establish the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan National Demonstration Zone for Transfer and Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements. Changsha will build a sci-tech service supermarket relying on the Changsha Branch of Xiaoxiang Sci-Tech Elements Market. It plans to build 40 proof-of-concept centers and pilot test platforms for transformation of scientific and technological achievements in Changsha, cultivating 100 mid-level and senior technology managers. Changsha will standardize the development of government industrial fund, directing capital to invest early, in small-scale projects, with long-term horizons, and in hard technologies. The city will increase support for technology-based enterprises through knowledge-based loans, raising loan limits and extending loan terms.

Changsha will build a high-level open innovation collaboration system. It will explore the establishment of cooperation platforms such as "sci-tech innovation enclaves" and "reverse enclaves" involving industry-academia-research-application communities. The city will strengthen regional scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Yangtze River Middle Reaches city cluster. It will enhance local-academic collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Changsha will improve cross-regional technological trading service systems such as the Shanghai Technology Exchange Central South Center, and build institutional platforms such as the "City University of Hong Kong (Changsha) Innovation Research Center." It will expand international scientific and technological cooperation, supporting the implementation of around 10 high-quality international talent projects. The city will also assist relevant institutions in constructing "Belt and Road" Joint Laboratories.

Changsha will establish a sci-tech innovation ecosystem with high vitality. It will deepen reform of the scientific and technological systems and mechanisms. Changsha will promote the establishment of a separate management system for job-related scientific and technological achievements as assets, deepening the reform of ownership rights assignment for such achievements. Changsha will comprehensively integrate education, science and technology, and talent. It will implement the "Star Gathering" project for high-precision, advanced, and urgently needed industrial talents, precisely attracting and cultivating a group of leading and backbone industrial talents. Changsha will step up construction of international talent communities and operation of the Changsha Immigration Service Center. It will carry forward characteristic policies such as the "Backpack" initiative and the "Star Lotus Gift Package" for young talent entrepreneurship, striving for adding over 10,000 new business entities founded by university graduates. The city will also continue to build itself into a nationally first-class intellectual property strong city with Changsha characteristics.

Chinese source: Changsha Evening News