Rebalancing economy with science and tech

Guangdong pioneers big innovation in investments, fiscal policy for growth

Perhaps no other province (or state) in the world can match Guangdong in South China when it comes to blending finance, fiscal measures, science, technology, medicine and innovation to add tremendous value to both economy and society on a sustained basis, even during difficult periods like pandemics.

Consider this: Guangdong tops all provinces and autonomous regions of China in terms of local government spending on the development of science and technology. What's more, for the last four years, the province has been topping the list of regional innovation capabilities.

A visit to the upcoming 2.6 billion yuan ($401.4 million) science research project in Guangzhou, the province's capital city, provides ample proof of Guangdong's imaginative approach to economic growth－the province harnesses synergies from multiple areas and emerging technologies to grow its local economy and enhance society.

On a day when 35 C temperature caused the local meteorological department to issue the year's first summer heat alert, workers continued construction of the Guangzhou Respiratory Center, a national-level facility that, upon completion before the year-end, will be devoted to research in respiratory diseases.

The center is a project of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. It will be the largest respiratory disease research, diagnosis and treatment center in Asia.

A project official traced the ambitious goal to the unprecedented shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and, before that, the untold disruptions caused by the SARS epidemic about 20 years ago.

Without the government's funding, "it's hard to imagine that the project will finish on time," said Zhang Nuofu, deputy head of the hospital.

The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had delayed the construction of the center last year. On June 20 last year, the hospital applied for a special fund of 200 million yuan. It was issued in the form of special treasuries by the central government as part of a larger fiscal program to contain the spread of the then rampant novel coronavirus.