The municipal government of Beijing has pledged to further advance innovation and high-end industries to improve the quality of the city's economy, which is undergoing restructuring.

"We need to speed up innovation-driven economic development, as the innovation strategy is fundamental for Beijing to restructure its economic growth model, and it is also key to its future," said Guo Jinlong, Party secretary of Beijing, at a recent news conference.

He added that Beijing has rich technological and intellectual resources to enhance economic growth through innovation.

Wang Anshun, mayor of Beijing, said that in the second half of this year, the municipality will boost innovations in technology, culture, products and business models to ensure innovation as the pivot of economic restructuring.

In the first half, the value added by the city's high-end manufacturing sector rose 14.6 percent year-on-year, while that of modern manufacturing increased 16.9 percent, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

"The driving force for Beijing's economic development is changing, and high-end industries are making remarkable contributions," said Yu Xiuqin, spokeswoman for the statistics bureau.

Guo said that the municipality will give more importance to technological innovation, including boosting the development of the Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone and improving policies for supporting technological innovation.

Wang added that the municipality will put forward "a raft of ground-breaking and influential measures" to fully unleash the power of technologic innovation. Meanwhile, 10 funds oriented for strategic emerging industries will be established and a group of specialized industrial bases will be set up.

In the first five months of this year, the number of patents filed by the city's inventors increased 21.4 percent.

During the same period, the revenues of the technology industry accounted for 54 percent of the nation's total, compared with 40 percent a year earlier, according to the statistics bureau.

Total revenue of companies in the Zhongguancun zone surged 26.5 percent year-on-year in the January-May period, while their profits jumped 40.1 percent.

Zhao Lei, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, said that in the second half, the municipal government will make better use of specialized funds to unleash the driving power of high-end industrial parks, including Zhongguancun.

"Meanwhile, we should speed up industrial upgrading and develop new drivers for economic growth. Regulations for small and medium-sized enterprises in Beijing and enterprises with their headquarters in Beijing will be launched," Zhao said.

He also said that a 2-billion-yuan ($327 million) SME development fund will be set up to optimize the city's industrial environment.

"The city's economic growth is showing a clear trend of being jointly driven by technological and cultural innovation," Wang said.

He also called for more innovation in the cultural industries, as the capital has rich resources and a cultural heritage.

"We need to put forward tailored measures to support the joint development of culture, technology and tourism while further guiding private capital to invest in the cultural and creative industries.

"While leading enterprises are encouraged, we will also foster a group of specialized and characteristic SMEs in the industry," Wang said.

Guo also called for a greater role for finance in supporting innovation as well as a deep study of policies to merge the innovations of finance, technology and culture.

(China Daily USA 09/03/2013 page15)