1. R&D investment reached new heights. In 2023, the R&D investment of Huadu District reached another record high of 4.508 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.0%, which was 3.5 percentage points higher than Guangzhou's growth rate, and ranked fifth in the city; the R&D investment intensity reached 2.50%, an increase of 0.16 percentage points over the previous year, ranking second in the city.

2. New breakthroughs were made in the building of innovation platforms. Innovation carriers continue to cluster together. In 2024, a total of 10 enterprises in Huadu District passed the 2023 qualification assessment of Guangdong for engineering technology R&D centers; and now the District has 1 provincial key enterprise laboratory, 2 provincial new R&D institutions, 99 provincial engineering technology research centers, 1 Guangdong Provincial Demonstration Base for Cultural and Technological Integration, and 3 municipal key laboratories.

3. New breakthrough was made in the cultivation of scientific and technological innovators. Our continuous optimization of the environment for enterprise innovation and development, focus on guiding enterprises to gradually increase R&D investment, and implementation of the tiered cultivation of "Technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises- High and new technology enterprise - Benchmarking enterprises of innovation” resulted in the continuous growth of the matrix of science and technology enterprises, and the emerge of clustering development of R&D centers, with enterprises as the main body of innovation: ZF Group, a Fortune 500 company, set up its South China R&D center in Huadu, injecting powerful momentum to Huadu District's ambition to build an intelligent networked vehicle innovation highland in the Greater Bay Area; Marelli set up here its China electronics R&D center, continuing its effort to deeply delve into the intelligent cockpit electronic technology; Kinte Industrial set up the CEI R&D center of complete set of intelligent equipment to boost its core R&D capabilities in the software and algorithm branch, as well as the system and architecture branch in the automotive field; and Dongfeng Nissan R&D Center planned to invest more than 10 billion yuan in the next three years to increase the size of the R&D team from 2,500 of now to more than 4,000 people, aiming to continuously promote the quality and upgrading of Huadu's automobile industry, and to drive new productivity with scientific and technological innovation. In addition, a number of new high-quality enterprises such as Gokin Solar, Didi Chuxing, and Woya Technology have also emerged in our District, which will be a lasting driving force to help Huadu build a new mechanism for scientific and technological innovation and promote mutual growth of industry and technology through interaction. 426 applications for recognition as high and new-technology enterprises were completed in 2024, denoting a completion rate of 109.5%, ranking second in the city; and number of existing high and new-technology enterprises of the District will exceed 1,100. In 2024, 1,007 technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises were recognized, making the District ranked third in the city in terms of task completion rate. Two companies, Guangzhou Lanhai Robot System Co., Ltd. and Guangzhou Shitian Material Technology Co., Ltd., were selected as future unicorns of Guangzhou, and included in the 2024 Deloitte Guangzhou Technology Fast 20 and Rising Star list, which are also known as the "Oscars for Science and Technology Innovation Enterprises in the Greater Bay Area". And three companies, Apower Electronics Co., Ltd, Guangzhou Deheng Automotive Equipment Technology Co., Ltd., and Guangzhou Lanhai Robot System Co., Ltd., were on the list of 2024 Guangzhou New Quality Productivity High-tech Enterprise Top 100, and are now representative enterprises of unlisted new quality productivity enterprises of high technology, high efficiency and high quality in Guangzhou.

4. Accelerate the transformation and implementation of scientific and technological achievements. Firstly, pacesetting enterprises were encouraged to take on challenges. In order to give full play to the leading role of backbone tech enterprises, support enterprises in accurate connection with major technological innovation platforms, and promote high-quality development of the industry with technological innovations, on March 21, 2024, one of the series of events organized by Guangzhou Science and Technology Bureau for the precise connection between pacesetting enterprises and major technological innovation platforms were held in the District (Dongfeng Nissan Special Session). 14 universities and scientific research institutions, including Guangzhou New-type R&D Institution Alliance, Cross-Media Intelligence and Brain-Inspired Robotics Center of the Research Institute of Tsinghua in the Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute, Guangzhou institute of Technology of Xidian University, and South China University of Technology, taking into consideration of their own professional R&D teams, application research and development, advanced manufacturing technology, basic software and other supporting forces, commit themselves to actively promote the organic combination of the technology supply-side structural reform and the business demand-side management, create a technology industry ecosystem that benefits all participators through organic integration of technology, platform and application scenario, continue to improve the innovation ability and technical service level on the "supply side" , and make every effort to send technology to, solve problem for, and promote innovation of Dongfeng Nissan and other pacesetting enterprises. Secondly, "bridge" for commercialization of technological achievements was built. On April 23, 2024, experts from Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University and Guangdong Institute of Laser Plasma Accelerator Technology were invited to participate in the kick-off conference for 2024 Huadu District application for recognition of high-and new tech enterprises and technology-based SMEs, as part of the effort to strengthen the connection of Huadu enterprises with universities, and research institutes, and to promote the effective transformation of knowledge and continuous innovation of technology. On May 25, 2024, a launching ceremony was held for the Science and Technology Activity Week, at which Plasma Equipment Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd and Guangdong CAS Dual Carbon Energy Saving Technology Co., Ltd signed cooperation agreements on the commercialization of technological achievements with Huadu District High-tech Enterprise Association in order to strengthen the interaction between government and enterprise platforms and to promote commercialization of technological achievements. On the afternoon of June 13, 2024, an activity was guided and organized where nearly 20 representatives of more than 10 listed companies, pacesetting enterprises and high-tech enterprises of the District paid visit to Guangdong Institute of Laser Plasma Accelerator Technology. And on December 26, 2024, as part of "From Flowers of R&D to Fruits of Commerce" series activities, the 2024 Huadu District Low-altitude Economy-related New Material Industry Innovation Achievements Display and Docking Meeting was successfully held, where more than 20 participators from Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou City University of Technology, Guangzhou Productivity Promotion Center, Huadu District High-tech Enterprise Association, and enterprises, conducted in-depth exchanges on the current status of industry development, problems faced and future directions, injecting new impetus into the development of the District’s low-altitude economy-related new material industry; and many enterprises contacted the participating expert representatives after the meeting. Thirdly, commercialization of agricultural technological achievements yielded fruitful results. In the 2024 Guangzhou Rural Science and Technology Special Envoys Competition, Chen Wei, a teacher from Guangzhou College of Technology and Business in Huadu District, won a third prize against more than 4,100 contenders from the city. On January 28, 2024, a launching ceremony for the "School-Enterprise Cooperation for Research and Innovation--Zisong Functional Vegetable and Fruit Product Development and Commercialization Project" was held in Guangdong Hengtai Lian'an Modern Agricultural Development Co., Ltd; Guangzhou College of Technology and Business and Hengtai signed a school-enterprise cooperation agreement; and leaders of the Provincial Rural Special Technology Association and other agencies participated in the project launch and witnessed the signing of the cooperation. In April 2024, the first agricultural academician (expert) workstation in Huadu District - Academician Shi Qiong's Fish Sex-control Breeding R&D Workstation - was established; with focus on the research of all-male perch technology, commercialization of research achievements and the talent cultivation, the Workstation is devoted to continuous promotion and application of new technologies and new varieties, commercialization of technical achievements, and active exploration of the "college + enterprise" mode of R&D cooperation; and it has signed new variety R&D cooperation agreements with more than 10 pairs of colleges and enterprises. Fourthly, tough problem tackling campaign was carried in key scientific and technological fields. In 2024, the "Research and Commercialization of Key Technologies for Quality and Efficiency Improvement of Cucurbit Vegetables After Picking”, a project proposed by Guangzhou Guoweiwei Food Co., Ltd. in cooperation with Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Sericultural & Agri-Food Research Institute at Guangdong Academy of Agricultural sciences, Vegetable Research Institute at Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and South China Agricultural University, under the "Food Nutrition and Health and Food Safety" (Agricultural Products Processing), a key special project of 2023 Guangdong Provincial Key Area R&D Plan, was approved by Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology and received 5 million yuan funds; and the "Research and Prototype Development of Microencapsulated Platinum Catalyst-Based One-Component Silicone Sealant for New Energy Vehicle PACK Systems”, a project proposed by Guangzhou Huitian New Material Co., Ltd., in cooperation with Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Guangzhou HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute, under the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao joint innovation initiative was approved by the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, and received 1 million yuan.

(5) Basic research achievements were kept coming out. Firstly, efforts were continued to carry out government-institution jointly funded projects in District-level basic research and basic applied research. In 2024, three co-operation units, including Huadu District People's Hospital, Guangzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, and Huadu District Maternity and Infant Health Hospital (Huzhong Hospital), recommend, after call for projects and selection process, a total of 30 candidate projects to be jointly funded in 2024 by the Huadu District Government institutions in District-level basic research and basic applied research to this Bureau; and the call for ordinary technical research projects of medical and healthcare at District level was continued, and in 2024, a total of 111 project applications were accepted for application review, and 89 projects were approved by experts. Secondly priority was attached to the cultivation of basic research talents. A total of 51 projects were mobilized and proposed to the Provincial Natural Science Foundation and the Province-Enterprise Joint Fund for 2025; universities, hospitals and other institutions in the District were organized to apply for project initiation with the National Natural Science Foundation of China; and the project led by Meng Ping of Guangzhou Huadu District People's Hospital was approved as a 2023 National Natural Science Foundation of China Youth Science Fund project; by assisting the District People's Hospital to apply for and become a co-construction unit of the city-school (hospital)-enterprise jointly funded basic research plan, we tried to build a broader platform for promoting medical clinical research and talent training.

(6) The cultivation of technological talents was carried out steadily. Firstly, support to champions in science and technology was enhanced. With the release of the Huadu District Implementation Plan for the Identification and Reward of Champion Teams of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and relevant application guidelines, we intended to gather high-end innovation and entrepreneurship teams with the help of rewards to champion teams of innovation and entrepreneurship. Now 4 teams have been recognized as champion teams of innovation and entrepreneurship, and 3 more have been selected as candidates for 2024. Secondly, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area preferential individual income tax policy was implemented for overseas high-end talents. Active efforts were made to publicize and promote the GHM Greater Bay Area preferential individual income tax policy for overseas high-end talents working in Huadu District; in order to attract more international scientific and technological innovation talents from Hong Kong and Macao to Huadu, fiscal subsidies would be applied for overseas high-end talents and highly-demanded talents working within the administrative area of Guangzhou, based on the part of the individual income tax paid in Guangzhou that exceeds the tax amount calculated at 15% of the taxable income.

(7) Surefooted measures were taken to advance popularization of science. Firstly, we held the 2024 Guangzhou Science Popularization Docents Contest Huadu District Preliminaries and Training Meeting. 2024 Guangzhou Science Popularization Docents Contest Huadu District Preliminaries and Training Meeting was held on theme of "promoting the spirit of scientists and stimulating the innovation vitality of the whole society". 10 contesters were recommended to compete in Guangzhou city; and after rounds of competition, Zhang Jinwei of Huadu District won a first prize in the primary and secondary school students group of the Guangzhou Science Popularization Docents Contest, Pan Jinpeng won a second prize in the primary and secondary school student group, and Deng Meimin won a third prize in the adult group; these marked the best ever performance of the District, and the second year in a row in which Huadu contester took a first prize in the city competition. And the organizer of the Contest gave an "Excellent Organization Award" to Huadu District Bureau of Science, Industry, Commerce and Information Technology. Secondly, a ceremony for the 2024 Science and Technology Week was launched with an innovation achievements exhibition. The launching ceremony for the 2024 Huadu Science and Technology Week was successfully held on May 25, at which the Science and Technology Week was launched, awards were delivered to outstanding scientific and technological innovation units, and industry-university-research agreements were signed. Also displayed at the spot were key scientific and technological achievements of the District, such as scientific and technological products in agricultural Internet, artificial intelligence, medicine and health, and other fields. The event attracted more than 300 people to participate, and more than 100,000 online viewers, and was vigorously publicized by People's Daily, Xinhuanet, Guangdong Science and Technology Weekly, Guangzhou TV, Nanfang Daily and other media, with remarkable publicity. Thirdly, 8 organizations were organized to apply for the title of youth science and technology education base in Guangdong Province in 2024, which was a record high number (the District accounted for one third of the 24 candidates recommend by Guangzhou to the Provincial Department of Science and Technology in 2024). Fourthly, highlights of science popularization achievements emerged continuously. In the 2024 Guangzhou Science Experiment Exhibition and Performance, Guangzhou Huadu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Guangzhou Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine won a first prize and an Excellence Award respectively, by their exploration of a more vivid and interesting way to disseminate scientific knowledge.