Relocation plans boost Beijing district's goal to become a global sci-tech hub

More than 40 national-level key laboratories will relocate to Beijing's Changping district, bolstering the capital's ambition to become a global hub for science and technology, according to district head Liu Xiaodong.

"Benefiting from the move, Changping is expected to become a new high-tech engine in China as well as in the world," he said.

Bordering the city's high-tech center of Haidian, Changping already hosts one-third of Beijing's national key laboratories and has the largest concentration of universities and working-age talent in the capital.

The district has mapped out a series of blueprints for the towns of Nankou and Machikou, borrowing experience from prestigious universities including Harvard, Cambridge and Standford, he said.

"We aim to build two towns into 'scientist towns'," Liu said.

In Nankou, Changping and Tsinghua University have jointly developed a major national research base, completing planning, design, construction and delivery within two years. The first phase has opened with two laboratories already operational, while an interdisciplinary innovation institute has launched 11 technology transfer projects, including Xingyu Aerospace. The second phase is due to be completed by year-end, making it the largest and most concentrated cluster of national key laboratories outside Tsinghua's main campus.

In Machikou, Changping is working with Peking University's "New Campus + New Engineering" initiative to build another laboratory cluster. The first nine facilities are expected to be topped out by the end of the year, he said.