Beijing’s Zhongguancun Park, one of major technology hubs in China, is set to expand beyond its original 7.2-km-long street in order to house innovation and business startups, local officials announced on Sunday.
Under the expansion plan, the area will branch out to cover major universities, including the prestigious Peking and Tsinghua Universities, as well as electronics shopping centers.
It will also shift toward providing services to boost technological financing, innovation and business startups, creative culture as well as industries related to information, big data and smart hardware, according to the state-owned Xinhua News Agency.
Zhongguancun currently has 36 office buildings on both sides of its core street, which is occupied by more than 6,000 companies.
"After the transformation, the street will be a window for the outside to see the achievements in innovation and startups of Zhongguancun," Zhongguancun deputy director Yan Xiumin said.
A 220-meter-long section of the area has already started construction in June the previous year, attracting nearly 40 companies serving business startups.
By 2020, the expansion of Zhongguancun is expected to produce a remarkable improvement in serving innovation-based companies, according to officials.
Located in Beijing's Haidan District, the Zhongguancun technology hub is the first "innovation demonstration zone" in China, according to Xinhua. The area was approved by the State Council in 2009 with the aim of becoming a technological innovation center with a global influence.
According to official data, revenues from the tech firms located in Zhongguancun reached 2.1 trillion yuan ($333 billion) in the first eight months, a sharp 10.8-percent increase year-on-year.