Innovation determines the future of a city, and a future city is driven by innovation. Since 2018, Ningxiang city has set up a special fund of 50 million yuan to support the construction of R&D and innovation platforms, enterprises' key technological projects, and the transfer and transformation of technological achievements, effectively stimulating the innovation and entrepreneurship and creating an atmosphere of innovation.
 
From 2017 to 2020, the number of high-tech enterprises in the city have increased from 129 to 264, and the number of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises has reached 119. In 2019, 3.375 billion yuan was invested in R&D in the whole society, and 4.056 billion yuan in R&D of high-scale industrial enterprises in 2020. The sales revenue of new products from enterprises above designated size accounted for 36.6% of their main business revenue in 2020.

There were 226 applications for invention patents of industrial enterprises above designated size, and the contract amount of technology market was 1.562 billion yuan. Ningxiang now has 24 leading agricultural enterprises above provincial level and 122 green and organic agricultural products. 

Ningxiang is striding forward to become a "national model of industry transformation and upgrading led by scientific and technological innovation" and an "innovative county (city) with high-quality development".
 
Enterprises are the main body of innovation and the new force to promote innovation and creation. In January 2021, Changsha Science and Technology Bureau announced the first batch of 26 "Changsha Technology Innovation Centers in 2020", and Ningxiang's 3 enterprise innovation centers from Wanshsin, Sinoboom and Hunan Aerospace Sanfeng Science & Industry were included.
Unlike common vending machine on the market, smart retail equipment of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) is assembled in intelligent retail service terminal R&D and manufacturing base of Ningxiang Economic & Technological Development Zone (NETDZ) Lanyuegu Smart Appliance Industrial Park, the first industrial innovation and application base with 5G independent core network in Hunan. On June 5, the overall technology of this project is considered to be international advanced level after expert assessment.
 
Zeng Wei, vice general manager of the CETC, said that the project's first phase investment of 250 million yuan was used to build an advanced digital factory with an annual output of 200,000 sets of intelligent retail terminal and an intelligent manufacturing platform oriented to intelligent terminal manufacturing industry. They have implemented the encryption of external data interface and security certification, with more automated and more stable production capacity.
 
"Under this project, our production line efficiency has increased by 30%, operating costs have been reduced by 20%, product development cycles have been shortened by 20%, and product defects have been further reduced." Zeng Wei introduced that the project is the first industrial innovation application with 5G independent core network in Hunan, which effectively guarantees the communication security of the digital factory "5G+ Industrial Internet".
 
Besides the Lanyuegu Smart Appliance Industrial Park, NETDZ has also built intelligent manufacturing industrial park, intelligent appliance accessories industrial park and other industrial platforms, as a cluster for industrial transformation and upgrading and intelligent manufacturing, to promote the positive interaction and joint development of industrial chain, innovation chain, supply chain and value chain.

"Innovation is the first driving force for development, and also the driving engine for the NETDZ's innovation-driven development," an official said. To deeply implement the "Three Hubs and Four New Missions" Strategy, more efforts have been made to promote the intelligent upgrading of enterprises to enhance the competitiveness of the industry and to ensure that at least 10 intelligent manufacturing enterprises are added every year. "By 2025, the park will gather more than 150 intelligent manufacturing enterprises above the municipal level, including 8 at national level and 15 at provincial level."
Technological innovation is productivity, which makes enterprises and local economy prosperous. In 2020, more than 200 transformation projects have been implemented by enterprises in the city, together with 2 provincial-level enterprise technology centers, 5 enterprise technology centers and 3 technological innovation centers established. 

By the end of 2020, there were 132 scientific and technological innovation platforms in the city, covering the emerging competitive industrial chains.