An aerial view of Zhangjiagang, a county-level city in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. [Photo/js.xinhuanet.com]

Zhangjiagang, a county-level city in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, has achieved impressive results in its economic development through a four-pronged approach that integrates innovation, industry, funding, and talent.

In 2015, the city introduced a points-based management system to quantify the level of innovation in companies and help the government tailor policies and services to meet their needs. More than 7,000 companies have since received over 500,000 points, and obtained over 800 million yuan ($116.38 million) in government funding.

Partly due to the innovative system, all large and medium-sized industrial enterprises and high-tech companies above a designated size in Zhangjiagang have their own research and development centers. The system has also been rolled out to 101 national-level and 32 provincial-level high-tech zones in China.

Leveraging its strengths in the chemical and equipment industries, Zhangjiagang has been actively developing sectors like new energy vehicles, hydrogen energy, photovoltaics, and lithium-ion batteries. Four emerging industries in the city – new energy, biomedicine and high-end medical equipment, semiconductor, and digital economy – raked in 59.58 billion yuan in revenue in 2022, a year-on-year growth of 27 percent.

In addition to innovation and industry, Zhangjiagang has been focusing on attracting high-level talent. For example, the city had in 2022 launched a program that offers green channels for administrative approval to talent-led semiconductors projects. Authorities will also provide a maximum of 6 million yuan in subsidies to qualified entrepreneurship projects.

The city has also launched several funds to help enterprises go public.