By the end of 2020, the number of incubators and makerspaces totaled 208 in Guangzhou's Tianhe district, which is an increase of seven times compared with 2015, said Qian Honglin, deputy director of the Tianhe district bureau of industry and information technology at an Aug 20 news briefing.

The whole enterprise incubation and cultivation system that covers start-up nurseries, incubators, and accelerators has been basically formed in Tianhe, Qian added.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), Tianhe witnessed great progress in basic research capacities, core technology breakthroughs, quality innovation subjects, the talent cultivation environment, and sci-tech innovation research.

A picturesque sunset city skyline in Tianhe district. [Photo/Nanfang Plus]

The district built 10 national key laboratories, one provincial-level laboratory, four joint laboratories in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and 136 provincial key labs by the end of 2020.

The technology contract turnover in the district in 2020 reached 73.54 billion yuan ($11.34 billion), 5.88 times of this year's planning target, which was 12.5 billion yuan.

By the end of 2020, the total number of high-tech enterprises in Tianhe was 2,996, an increase of 4.7 times compared with 2015 and 1.2 times the planned target for 2020. A total of 22 enterprises in the district were selected as Guangzhou's unicorn or potential unicorn innovative enterprises, accounting for 38 percent of the city's total.

There were 1,035 software enterprises above designated size in the district, with an operating income of 189.16 billion yuan, which made up half of the revenue of the software industry in Guangzhou.