Economic Development Strategies and Optimization of High-tech Development Zones from the Perspective of "Four-transform and Three-famous": Taking Nanchang High-tech Development Zone as an Example

Zhikang DENG, Meixuan REN

College of Urban Construction, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China

Abstract In recent years, high-tech development zones (hi-tech zones) have always occupied a very important position in the strategy of promoting China’s innovative development. The combination of the "four-transform and three-famous" coordinated economic development strategy pioneered by Zhejiang Province in 2015 and the coordinated economic development of high-tech zones is particularly important for modern China at a critical time for innovative economic development. In this article, based on the research on the coordination mechanism of economic activities and development of Nanchang High-tech Zone, the development course of high-tech zones in China is elaborated, the early economic models in high-tech zones of Nanchang and China are analyzed, the existing problems in the structure of economic development of high-tech zones are analyzed in depth, the main driving factors for promoting the economic development of high-tech zones are studied from the aspects of capital, space, industry, economic model, etc., and corresponding development strategies for high-tech development zones in China are proposed.

Key words Four-transform and three-famous, National high-tech development zone, Economic development, Strategy and optimization, Innovative technology

1 Introduction

Under the ideological guidance and policy guidance put forward by General Secretary Xi with "innovation is the first driving force to lead development" as the guiding core[1], China proposes a strategic requirement that being driven by high technology and developing new industries, and the strategy and planning of "high-tech new industrial economic development zones" with different development styles have been formed. The financial crisis that broke out in 2008 has caused a sharp decline in the consumption power of European and American countries, leading to a serious setback in China’s manufacturing exports. The domestic low-end manufacturing industry generally faces the problem of being difficult to survive. This is both a crisis of China’s economic development and an opportunity for the transformation of China’s economic development. In recent years, influenced by the changes in the international market and the positive guiding role of national policies, China’s high-tech development zones are gradually breaking through the previous low-end industrial economic model and developing a dynamic and innovative economy. Domestic scholars have conducted in-depth research on the new planning and construction of high-tech development zones. On the basis of fully summarizing the experience of foreign planning for new city development and the current basic national conditions of China, Lin Hua puts forward relevant opinions for the economic development direction of high-tech development zones from the aspects of planning qualitative, site selection and construction[2]. Zhang Jie and Zhao Min draw inspiration from the historical experience of China’s new city construction and development and think that China’s current new city construction should comprehensively consider several main factors: breaking through the traditional framework theoretically to seek new opportunities and space for economic development; adopting public policies as guidelines for economic development and public resource development models; and maintaining and balancing various social interests to reflect economic fairness[1]. Zhou Xiaohua summarized and analyzed the planning and construction and development of high-tech development zones at home and abroad, and classified the economic development of high-tech development zones based on the classification of the innovative construction models. With the rapid development of the world economy, the "four-transform and three-famous" project, that is, transforming from energy-consuming and pollution-heavy industries to high value-added, energy-saving and pollution-free ones, transforming from human to machine, transforming from land to space, transforming from real economy to e-commerce and cultivating famous enterprises, famous products and famous experts, was proposed. The implementation the "four-transform and three-famous" project is to completely solve a series of structural problems of China’s current economy, and it is the only way to create an upgraded version of China’s economic development. From the perspective of "four-transform and three-famous", the real economy and development strategy and optimization of China’s high-tech development zones are discussed in this article.

2 Development course of high-tech development zones in China

2.1 Original stageOn March 6, 1991, the State Council issued the "NoticeonApprovalofNationalHigh-techIndustrialDevelopmentZonesandRelatedPoliciesandRegulations". The development of China’s high-tech development zones has entered a golden age of development. In 1991, which is the original stage of high-tech development zones, 27 national high-tech industrial development zones were approved. The first batch of industries entering the parks received national specific economic preferential policies. This has added momentum to the development of high-tech development zones, and laid the basic premise for the development of high-tech development zones.

2.2 Basic development stageIn 1992, according to the needs of the economic development situation, 25 national high-tech industrial development zones were approved successively. In the early stages of development, high-tech development zones mainly focused on industrial industries as their main economic factors. To encourage the development of new industries in other fields, in the late 1990s, high-tech industrial development zones mainly based on agriculture were established. The establishment of the agricultural high-tech development zones has provided technical impetus for the application of agricultural high-tech, and driven the rapid development of agricultural economy. By that time, the total number of national high-tech development zones reached more than 50. In the following years, there has been no fundamental change in the scale and quality of the economic development of key high-tech development zones in China.

2.3 High-speed development stageIn 2010, the government launched the transformation and upgrading project of high-tech development zones. In the same year, the State Council approved the upgrade of 27 key high-tech development zones to the national level. In the following year, a total of 5 provincial high-tech development zones were approved. In 2012, 17 high-tech development zones were approved to upgrade to national level. By then, the number of high-tech development zones had increased by more than twice, and the overall economic development pattern of high-tech development zones in China has taken shape. The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017 clearly states to further vigorously develop the national innovative high-tech industry, and therefore, the construction and economic and technological development of high-tech development zones have become the focus of attention in the current domestic academic community.

3 Analysis of the shortcomings of the early economic model in Nanchang High-tech Development Zone and China High-tech Development Zone

3.1 Not conducive to the sustainable development of the ecological environment and natural resourcesThe industrial structure of Nanchang’s early high-tech economic development zones was dominated by heavily polluted and inefficient mineral resources mining and low-end manufacturing[3], causing serious environmental pollution and resource destruction. From a long-term perspective, the cost of restoring the original environment and resources is much higher than the profitability of mining companies, and it is not worth the loss. Moreover, mineral resources are not renewable, and the mining industry is bound to face serious resource depletion. In short, the current economic model is not sustainable.

3.2 Not conducive to the improvement of quality of human resourcesThe existing large-scale low-end manufacturing industry in Nanchang High-tech Development Zone has the characteristics of low added value, low technology content and low efficiency[3]. Correspondingly, the jobs it provides are characterized by low income, low skills and technical requirements, and high workload. Most industries in the high-tech development zone are low-end industries of production, management and assembly line. Long-term engaged in such low-income and repetitive and heavy production management work will adversely affect the physical and mental health of employees. Low-end manufacturing will inevitably directly lead to low overall labor literacy, not conducive to technological innovation in new industries and healthy development of the economy of the high-tech development zone.

3.3 Lack of core technologyFrom the perspective of the core competitiveness of the economies of Nanchang High-tech Development Zone, the low-end manufacturing industry in the high-tech development zone lacks sufficient core technology, and its products are easily imitated. Due to the lack of core technology, the manufacturing enterprises in the high-tech development zone are easy to be surpassed by those in foreign homogeneous regions. That is, the international market position of the manufacturing enterprises in Nanchang High-tech Development Zone is relatively low. The most prominent feature is that the quality of the products cannot be guaranteed, and they can’t really get the trust of foreign companies. In addition, the emerging economies of the world are more competitive due to their lower labor costs and lower prices for their products. This has led to a tightening of the market for domestic same industries.

3.4 The development prospects of enterprises are extremely bleakFrom the perspective of the development prospects of enterprises, the added value of low-end manufacturing products in Nanchang High-tech Development Zone is very low. The overall profit of the enterprises can only rely on squeezing labor costs[4]. With the increase of labor cost, the actual profitability and competitiveness of the companies have gradually weakened, and their development prospects are extremely bleak.

3.5 The independence of the economy is not strongSince the 1990s, the low-end manufacturing industries gradually abandoned by developed countries in Europe and America quickly moved to the domestic market, and China’s high-tech development zones have become a "world factory". At present, the production capacity of the manufacturing industries in the national high-tech development zones is far greater than the domestic consumer demand. Excess manufacturing capacity is mainly consumed through high-tech development zones for export products. The products of low-end manufacturing are overly dependent on foreign markets, the pricing power of export products is controlled by developed countries in Europe and America, the profits of export enterprises are severely squeezed by developed countries in Europe and America, and frequent "anti-dumping" has affected China’s economic and financial strategies and severely weakened China’s international status and international competitiveness[5]. Therefore, the economies of high-tech development zones have not been able to be completely independent, and they still need to innovate.

4 The development direction of high-tech development zones in China

To promote the transformation and upgrading of China’s high-tech development zones, we must vigorously implement the "four-transform and three-famous" project. "Four-transform" is to "free cages for birds",i.e., vigorously develop industries with high added value, low energy consumption and low pollution; transform from humane to machine to realize the reduction of staff and increase efficiency; transform from land to space to achieve effective saving and intensive use of land; and make efforts to promote the development of the Internet and e-commerce. "Three-famous" is to use Chinese enterprises to cultivate well-known domestic and foreign enterprises, well-known brands and well-known entrepreneurs to build industry leaders.

4.1 Strengthening the factors driving innovationWith the acceleration of the development of the intelligent and networked global economy, natural resources and cheap labor can no longer be the main driving factors for the economic survival and development of high-tech development zones. With the rapid development of the world economy, countries are gradually moving towards the competition of science, technology, industry and other aspects. Currently, the economy of China’s high-tech development zones is facing a critical period of transformation from the old market economy’s industrial pattern to the new economic industrial pattern. The main factors determining the success of the transformation are resources, energy, labor costs and other resources with advantages such as scientific information technology. Whether it has a certain cost advantage and the obvious advantages of driving and development mainly depends on industrial factors such as exports, enterprises and added value of products. The economic development of science and technology innovation mainly takes the development of science and technology and innovation as the economic operation and development direction and the focus of economy[1]. The driving force of technological innovation is high-tech enterprises that use technology to obtain a large amount of endogenous power for economic development from their creativity, skills and talents and economic activities that can create potential wealth for enterprises through comprehensive development of intellectual property. That is, the economic growth of high-tech development zones is mainly to bring a large number of economic benefits and resources through the innovation and application of scientific information technology, so as to achieve intensive growth and increase the output rate of production factors through scientific and technological transformation. For an innovative economy, the essence of innovation driving is the innovation of technological ability. Enterprises in high-tech development zones can carry out their own internal industrial innovation through technological innovation, so as to achieve industrial upgrading and successful economic transformation.

4.2 Developing an intelligent and innovative circular economy modelResearch shows that in the early stage of development, high-tech development zones mainly rely on the advantages of low costs, especially low labor costs. The essential significance of the economic transformation and upgrading of China’s high-tech development zones is to use advanced modern technology to transform traditional industries in high-tech development zones, develop modern high-tech industries and improve the high-tech content of economic development and social progress. Therefore, the success of the transformation and upgrading of the innovative scientific and technological industry depends on whether the high-tech development zone can cultivate modern industries and improve the added value of the modern industries[6]. The business type and kind system can use new technological transformation and increase manufacturing and its main traditional products as core competitiveness, further develop strategic emerging industries, modern service industries and intelligent modern industry and commerce, further enhance the scale and global competitive position of the high-tech development zone’s key industries, making high-tech development zones become the "controller" of the high-end industrial value chain in China and even the world and completely getting rid of the image of "world factory".

4.3 Saving energy consumption and reducing environmental pollutionThe energy consumption of traditional industries in China accounts for a large proportion[7]. The pollution is very serious, but the added value is generally not high. This extensive economic development method has exacerbated the contradiction between energy consumption, energy conservation and emission reduction, and industrial transformation and upgrading. In the current development situation of scarce natural resources, based on the premise of ensuring the stable development of the social economy, only by achieving a significant reduction in product energy consumption can we truly achieve a sustainable development strategy. The development of low-pollution and low-consumption products can not only effectively reduce the source of pollution and solve difficult problems such as the spread of pollution, and it can also promote the development of ecological economy.

4.4 Improving industry added valueCompared with developed countries, some enterprises in China have low production efficiency and high energy consumption, and the added value of the products is relatively low, lacking effective high value-added product development capabilities and product market development capabilities. This greatly limits the increase in China’s industrial profits. Only by vigorously developing science and technology and continuously improving the added value of products can we achieve the rapid development of the industry. Increasing the added value of products will also produce the effect of superimposing accumulation and compounding. Consequently, consumers will have a better integrated experience and more durable and higher profit returns and higher market share will be achieved, making the economic development show a good trend. High value-added products have much higher technical content and cultural value than general products. As a result, the market appreciates greatly and can obtain high profits. China can increase the added value of industry and products by extending the industrial chain,etc. and achieve a successful transformation of the economy by "freeing cages for birds".

4.5 Developing e-commerce economyIn the context of the rapid development of the Internet economy, the government must keep pace with the times and increase the development of e-commerce enterprises[10]. In this way, the business scale of enterprises will be effectively increased, and their competitiveness and business volume will be enhanced, achieving the continuous increase of urban economic output value. Honest e-commerce brands need to be created to let e-commerce entities develop with full potential. From the aspects of standardizing e-commerce and entity behaviors and guiding agglomerative development, gold-lettered signboards of high confidence, high diversity and excellent quality will be created. E-commerce can greatly reduce manpower, material resources and capital and replace physical logistics. It has enabled transaction activities to break the boundaries of time and space, thereby greatly improving efficiency. The development of e-commerce has the function of innovation and transformation. As the Internet level improves, China should gradually transform from real economy to e-commerce economy and economic model, to achieve "the transformation from human to machine" and "the transformation from land to space". The technology flow and information flow can be controlled by improving the e-commerce economy’s ability to operate autonomously and improving platform utilization efficiency. In addition, we should also improve the current environment of the electronic business economic model, strengthen the support system for electronic business enterprises, and provide help in enterprise management, enterprise informatization, autonomous operation capabilities and e-commerce processes.

5 Conclusions and policy recommendations

5.1 ConclusionsThrough the analysis of the development of China’s high-tech zones and the existing examples of transformation and upgrading, the following conclusions are drawn. The number of high-tech zones in China is expanding rapidly, and the growth rate is slowly decreasing, showing a steady growth trend. China’s high-tech zones have an obvious economic transformation trend, and the elimination of old industries is large. It shows that strategic innovative industries have a positive effect on economic development of China under the guidance of macro policies.

5.2 Policy recommendations(i) Doing well in the "four-transform and three-famous" economy. To stabilize the economic development trend of high-tech zones, we must insist on technological innovation, continuously improve the technological content of economic development, and quickly and comprehensively eliminate old industries with low production capacity and heavy pollution, that is, truly complete "freeing cages for birds". (ii) Applying efficient production technology using machine substitutions to improve enterprise productivity, increase labor production remuneration, reduce production costs, and achieve staff reduction and efficiency gains. (iii) Intensifying land use. We should eliminate the denunciation of waste of social resources to large and heavy industries, vigorously enhance the use value of land, and strive to create a green industrial chain. (iv) Vigorously developing e-commerce,i.e., accelerating the online and offline integration and development of China’s characteristic advantageous industries, and cultivating and building an e-commerce economic model with unique characteristics and agglomeration effects in various regions.