Ningxiang City, Hunan Province, was listed among the second batch of national innovative cities (counties), according to the notice issued by Ministry of Science and Technology on May 10.

The achievement indicates that Ningxiang has already made great progress in building an innovative city at present and welcomed new opportunities of high-quality development driven by innovation.

In recent years, Ningxiang City has concentrated its resources and advantages to develop 6 leading industries through technology, namely the advanced energy storage materials, engineering machinery, smart household appliances and hardware, life science, food and agricultural processing and manufacturing, and modern agriculture.

In 2022, the gross output value of industries above designated size reached 173.9 billion yuan in Ningxiang, up 9.1% year-on-year, with the growth rate of 7.1%, ranking the first among Changsha, Wangcheng, Liuyang and Ningxiang. Ningxiang High-tech Zone was upgraded to a national high-tech zone and was awarded the national torch characteristic industrial base. The total investment in research and development (R&D) reached 3.224 billion yuan, an increase of 21.52% over the previous year. And there were 413 new high-tech enterprises and 417 small and medium-sized technology-based enterprises.

In 2013, science and technology in Ningxiang City has been guiding the way with innovative cities to resolutely win scientific and technological innovation. In the first quarter, the investment in R&D of industrial enterprises above designated size was 1.187 billion, up 23.32% year-on-year. There were 118 small and medium-sized technology-based enterprises for record, an increase of 254.72% over the same period last year and 25 technological innovation centers in Changsha City newly identified. There were 1999 registered technical contracts, an increase of 784.51% over the same period last year with the turnover reaching 1.612 billion. In a word, scientific and technological innovation has achieved a good start.