A view of the Nan'ao Island in Guangdong's Shantou city. (PHOTO: VCG)

By CHEN Chunyou & YE Qing

Enterprises in high-tech zones can benefit from wide-ranging policies and infrastructure, and have access to talented individuals, all in an atmosphere of innovation and entrepreneurship. These features allow enterprises to focus on their advantages, and chase more growth opportunities to increase their competitiveness in the market.

Shantou High-tech Zone (SHZ) was established in 1992, and upgraded to national high-tech zone status in 2017. The zone has long been a facilitator in accumulating resources and creating platforms for local enterprises to meet regional needs.

How to decrease the environmental pollution caused by recycling used lithium batteries is a big technological difficulty. To realize the harmless treatment of pollutants, Guangdong Guanghua Sci-Tech Co., Ltd., a national torch plan key high-tech enterprise in the zone, established a cooperative team with researchers from the University of Science and Technology Beijing.

The research team developed technologies for cascade recycling of elements. The recovery rate of lithium batteries reached more than 95 percent, and the recovery rate of nickel, cobalt, and manganese was more than 99 percent.

Another noteworthy technology is the deep-hole drilling technology, developed by Shantou Huaxing Metallurgical Equipment Co., Ltd. and the National Engineering Research Center of Near-Net-Shape Forming for Metallic Materials at the South China University of Technology. It can better prolong the service life of blast furnace equipment, and reduce manufacturing costs. This technology won second prize at the National Science and Technology Progress Awards.

In 2021, Torch High Technology Industry Development Center, under the Ministry of Science and Technology, announced the 2021 pilot list for cultivating innovative industrial clusters. The software and new information technology service industry in SHZ was on the list.

In order to better develop this industry, SHZ signed an in-depth cooperation framework agreement with the adjacent Shenzhen High-tech Zone in the same year. This led to the construction of the Shenzhen-Shantou new-generation electronic information industry park.

The first phase of the park has been completed and it is planned to introduce 80 electronic information-related enterprises, and more than 2,000 experts in this sector. This will help the local traditional upstream and downstream enterprises to optimize the manufacturing process, and achieve the targeted output value of more than five billion RMB.