Guangzhou Bases its Further Development on Green Innovation

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GUANGZHOU, China, Dec. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- China has been deepening its ecological environment protection over the past four decades of reform and opening-up, during which its forest coverage has nearly doubled from 12% to 21.66%. And the ecological progress of China has been increasingly recognized by the international community. On December 14, the first World Eco-Design Conference kicked off in Conghua, a district of Guangzhou with forest coverage up to 68.7%. Participants from more than 30 countries and regions gathered in the eco-design town of Conghua.

Various novel industrial design products, including drinkable pesticides, light source for plant fermentation and smart hoverboards, made their debuts at the conference. It is conceivable that Guangzhou's ability to pool high-end talents, expert teams and huge capital in eco-design will accelerate the formation of a more competitive innovation and entrepreneurship system.

Guangzhou, with an aim to become the initiator of the global eco-design campaign and the eco-design capital, has made its voice heard by issuing the Conghua Initiative on the World Eco-design Industry Development at the conference. The Initiative calls for an inclusive global economy and sustainable growth through innovative design for promoting the wellbeing of mankind.

At the same time, Guangzhou is taking actions on stimulating green innovation. The city epitomizes the Chinese solution to pursuing the green development path over the past four decades.

On April 2016, Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) of Sino-Swiss Low Carbon Cities Project between the People's Government of Guangzhou and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation was signed. With the launch of the project in Conghua, the ecological center of the Greater Bay Area, the district will learn from Switzerland in building a low-carbon city to foster an ecological chain of low-carbon industries.

Guangzhou, while building a technological innovation center of the Greater Bay Area through eco-design, is gaining strong momentum in integrating into the world and driving sustainable economic growth, as new energy and new materials industries and new technologies are shooting up, and the public awareness of environmental protection is increasing.

A thorough observation shows that the world-renowned bay areas of New York, San Francisco and Tokyo are global centers in terms of not just technological innovation, but also design. Conghua, seeking to pioneer on the global eco-design front, will attract more fine resources into the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Science and Technology Innovation Corridor for accelerated development.

"The Greater Bay Area boasts a well-established industrial base, a pool of high-caliber personnel and huge market capital and capacity. And powered by eco-design as an accelerator, the Area will be home to a strong growth engine driven by innovation for more eco-friendly industries and more industrialized eco-design," said Gao Yuyue, deputy secretary-general of the Guangzhou municipal government.

During the conference, the Sino-Swiss Design MoU was also signed by the Conghua government, China Industrial Design Association and its Swiss counterpart, making it clear that cooperation will be made in jointly building a Sino-Swiss Low Carbon Industrial Park, a Hong Kong-Macao Research Institute of Ecological and Industrial Design and the Bay Area Open University of Design.

Through institutions and practices, the green development of Conghua has been put on a faster track, and a testimony to that is its eco-design town. By strengthening the eco-design, R&D and education, Conghua helps to combine all economic sectors and establishes a featured town to grow the new economy. Going ahead, a 10-billion-yuan-worth eco-design industrial fund will be set up in a bid to cultivate eco-industries, including intelligent agriculture, service robot, smart hoverboard and hydrogen vehicle.

"The eco-design town in Conghua, represents a pool of wisdom, talents and innovative and creative ideas," said Li Yong, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. In his view, eco-design has huge potential, and branding and designing have a significant role to play in a successful company. It will, in many ways, stimulate industrial investment in new energy and material industries.

A total of 65 eco-design companies across the world signed up to locate in the eco-town of Conghua on December 5. "In the future, industries here will progress in a green, smart, creative and recycling way," said Ying Fangtian, secretary-general and deputy director-general of China Industrial Design Association.

From theories to practical outcomes, the process has taken the economic and social development of Guangzhou to new heights. The city, constantly using new technologies such as Internet big data, flexible manufacturing, and artificial intelligence, has brought out new plat forms and new forms. The industrial design outcomes and green innovation will continue to give fresh impetus to the upgrading of Guangzhou's traditional industries as the city represents the permanent site of the World Eco-Design Conference.

Wang Zhen, Asia-Pacific Director of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, is conscious that as a pioneer of China's reform and opening-up, Guangzhou has been committed to moving up the industrial value chain by combining eco-design with industrial development. These sustainable practices serve as a fine example for Asia-Pacific nations.

In fact, the design and construction of the eco-town has applied a number of low carbon eco-friendly technologies and efficiently made the dilapidated areas, including the broken houses, plants and schools, back to life.

This unique design of venue is a demonstration of an ecologically innovative and dynamic Guangzhou. While sustaining fast economic growth, the garden city continues to improve its environment. Last year, it took a lead among other central Chinese cities in lowering the level of dangerous PM2.5 particulates to the designated standard and its green coverage ratio reached to 42.5%.

In the view of Kevin Rudd, the former Australian Prime Minister, "Guangzhou, as a world's first-tier city, has the foundation and capacity to promote the scientific and technological innovation within the Greater Bay Area with eco-design concepts." He also said that green ecological development is the trend, and ecological design is a key to sustainable development.

"Industrial design provides a good start and entry point for China's quality development. With the Greater Bay Area under construction, the concept of green development it champions and the industrial design will reinforce each other," said Feng Changhong, executive vice president of Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association. She believes that the Greater Bay Area's overall strength in terms of finance, technology and industry will multiply if the innovative cities, like Guangzhou and Shenzhen, can join forces with the manufacturing centers of Dongguan, Foshan and Zhongshan and the international metropolis of Hong Kong and Macao.

"Eco-design has been defined in various ways amid China's mass entrepreneurship and innovation. A sound and enabling industrial ecosystem can be driven and fostered by design itself and thus strike a balance among nature, mankind and industry," said Pan Yunhe, academician and former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Green development, which is featured by higher quality and stronger momentum, together with green lifestyle, has been more accepted by the Chinese people. In the case of Guangzhou, its further development is based on ecological progress and innovation, creating a better and greener future.

SOURCE The People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality