Jinan High-Tech Zone was established in March 1991 as one of the first national-level high-tech zones approved by the State Council. It covers a total area of 291 square kilometers, comprises five subdistrict offices, and has a permanent population of over 400,000.In 2024, the district’s GDP growth rate reached 6.5%, exceeding the national, provincial, and municipal averages, with a total GDP of 205.35 billion yuan. It became the second district in Jinan and the fourth in Shandong Province to surpass the 200-billion-yuan threshold, effectively serving as the city’s “primary engine, main battleground, and leading force” for economic and social development.
This area is blessed with overlapping strategic opportunities.It is home to five major national-level strategies: a National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, a Pilot Free Trade Zone, a Comprehensive Bonded Zone, a Pilot Zone for the Transformation of New and Old Growth Drivers, and the nation’s first Pilot Zone for Science and Technology Innovation Financial Reform. Transportation here is swift and convenient. A comprehensive, multi-dimensional transportation system has been established that “reaches the skies, penetrates the earth, connects to rivers, and extends to the sea.” Transportation hubs—including airports, seaports, highway terminals, and railway stations—are within easy reach, enabling travel between Beijing and Shanghai over a thousand miles in a single day. The area is rich in innovation resources.We are accelerating the development of innovation platforms, with nearly 400 R&D institutions at the provincial level or above. Phased achievements have been made in the construction of “CAS-affiliated” projects and the Jinan base of the National Laboratory. We are fostering a tiered ecosystem of innovation entities, having cultivated a total of 6 unicorn companies, 65 national-level “Specialized, Refined, Distinctive, and Innovative” (SRDI) “Little Giant” enterprises, 995 SRDI SMEs, and 1,368 innovative SMEs. The number of selected enterprises ranks first among all districts and counties in the city and leads among development zones across the province.The district is home to 400,000 professionals of all levels and categories, an achievement recognized with commendations from the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government. We have focused on breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies, with three scientific and technological achievements and 18 projects winning the 2023 National Science and Technology Awards and Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Awards, respectively—ranking first in the province. The industrial ecosystem here is of high quality.Leading industries have expanded in scale and improved in quality: the next-generation information technology sector has newly secured approval for three provincial-level industrial clusters; the intelligent equipment sector has cultivated six national-level “single-champion” manufacturing enterprises and 28 provincial-level “single-champion” manufacturing enterprises; and the biopharmaceutical sector ranks among the top in the comprehensive competitiveness rankings of national biopharmaceutical industrial parks.Construction of the Future Industry Pilot Zone has commenced, and the Future Industry Alliance has been established. Industrial layouts for quantum “communication, measurement, and computing” and aerospace information “communication, navigation, and remote sensing” have taken initial shape. Here, project development is improving in both quality and efficiency. There are 129 new projects with investments exceeding 100 million yuan; the annual planned investments for 13 provincial-level key projects and 71 municipal-level key projects are 1.74 billion yuan and 22.75 billion yuan, respectively;Commercial projects such as the Sam’s Club and the Jigao World Trade Chip Ring Center have been signed and launched. The growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods here is 12.7 times that of the city as a whole, and the total volume of imports and exports accounts for more than half of the city’s total, demonstrating robust consumer vitality. The level of openness and integration here has been elevated.We have promoted the integrated development of the Free Trade Zone and the Comprehensive Bonded Zone. Fifteen case studies on “Free Trade Innovation and High-Tech Applications” were submitted for evaluation in national and provincial Free Trade Zone institutional innovation competitions. We implemented the province’s first “single bill of lading for multiple vehicles” export operation. The Zhangjin Comprehensive Bonded Zone has received provincial commendations for its import-export growth for 11 consecutive months, with the zone’s total import-export volume growing by 10.1% year-on-year. The total volume of actual foreign capital utilization has ranked first in the city for 14 consecutive years.Here, people’s well-being is steadily improving. In 2024, 27,400 new urban jobs were created, and the zone was recognized as the “High-Tech Zone with the Highest Employment Attractiveness” for graduates in the province. Construction of two National Regional Medical Centers is accelerating; approval was granted to build Jinan’s Comprehensive Childcare Service Center; and the zone was designated a “2024 District for High-Quality and Balanced Development of Compulsory Education.” Boluoshan was selected as one of the city’s “Top Ten Vibrant Shared Green Spaces.” Construction officially began on the province’s first Sam’s Club.
From its establishment following State Council approval in 1991 through the first phase of development in 2001, Jinan High-Tech Zone has forged a dynamic region of continuous advancement. From the relocation of the Management Committee to the central district in 2001 through the second phase of development in 2023, the Zone drove the region’s GDP from over 8 billion yuan to 176.73 billion yuan, ushering in a new era for the provincial capital’s transition from “Eastward Expansion” to “Eastward Strengthening.”In 2024, Jinan High-Tech Zone embarked on a new journey of its “third entrepreneurial phase,” focusing on coordinated development across its districts to build a “Central Science and Innovation Zone” at a high level, a “Technology City in a Park” to high standards, and a “Modern Industrial Cluster International Aviation City” of high quality.