Approved by the State Council, Shanghai Zizhu Science Park was upgraded as China national hi-tech industrial development zone. Wan Gang, Vice-Chairman of CPPCC national committee and Minister of Science and Technology and Han Zheng, Deputy Secretary of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and the Mayor inaugurated the national Hi-tech Zone on July 3, 2011. Shanghai vice Mayor Shen Xiaoming presided over the ceremony. 

Wan Gang pointed out that the national hi-tech industrial development zones are important carriers of the development of Hi-tech industries. With a decade of efforts, Zizhu Park became a national Hi-tech industrial development zone. This is another important step to implement the national innovation strategy. He expressed his hopes that Zizhu would play an active role in the long-term layout of hi-tech industrial development zones by giving full play to the regional characteristics, building development capacity, training creative talents, focusing on specialized industries and forming industrial clusters. He noted that, standing at the threshold of the 12th five-year-plan, Shanghai Hi-tech zones needed to deepen reform and opening up, build innovation systems, promote the integration of production, teaching and research and aggregate both international and domestic innovative resources to further enhance the commercialization of research findings.

Han Zheng remarked that the Hi-tech zone is a core carrier of the “Driven by Innovation, Transforming and Developing” strategy during the 12th five-year-plan. Zizhu Hi-tech Zone needs to take the significant opportunity to make breakthroughs in the industrialization of hi-tech research findings, in the management mechanisms and systems, in the policy designs and in attracting top talents. He noted that Shanghai municipal and district governments should work together to promote the construction of Zizhu Hi-tech zone so as to make new contributions to building an innovative country.
At the meeting, Mo Fuchun, deputy secretary of CPC Minhang District Committee and Chief of Minhang District, expressed in his speech that Zizhu Hi-tech Zone should seize the opportunity to improve urban functions, promote industrial restructuring, upgrade regional innovation systems and gather top talents. Minhang District would strive to build Zizhu Hi-tech Zone into a pilot area for industrial innovation and restructuring, for the commercialization of research findings, for a modern environmentally friendly living place and for attracting top talents.

The president & GM Shen Wen of Shanghai Zizhu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone also indicated that it was both a great honor and significant responsibility for Zizhu park to be upgraded to national hi-tech industrial development zone. With the promotion as a new staring point, Zizhu will further speed up innovation value realization, improve the efficiency of the science and technology innovation, promote the regional level to make new contributions to “Driven by Innovation, Transforming and Developing” of Shanghai and building an innovative city full of vitality, according to the requirements and mission of the national hi-tech zone by the Ministry of Science and Technology, combining the advantages of the mechanism and system,, and according to the requirement of “ 12th 5-year Plan”.

Shanghai Zizhu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was established in 2002, it is an exclusive Hi-tech zone co-invested by government, enterprise and university with the market based operation. There have been 425 enterprises from strategic industries of IC& software, new energy, new material, aerospace, digital content and life science in the zone in recent 10 years, including the renowned companies such as Intel, Microsoft, Coca cola, AVIC etc. as well as 14 state-level R&D institutions such as Nano Technology Engineering Center, Tissue Engineering Research Center etc..
In 2010, Shanghai Zizhu Hi-Tech Zone realized the revenue income worth 2.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46%. In the first half of this year, the revenue income was nearly 1.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18%.

The leaders from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Shanghai municipal government, ZhangJiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone, as well as the enterprises representatives of Zizhu Hi-tech zone attended the ceremony.