The government of Tianhe district, Guangzhou's financial center, pledged to back innovators with all its strength at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference this week.

The conference, held in Tianhe district of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, is part of the 2016 Guangzhou International Innovation Festival, a three-day event that took place Monday through Wednesday.

Tianhe has been focusing on its innovation-driven economy, Lin Daoping, Party chief of the district, said at the conference.

The district posted 26.5 billion yuan ($3.85 billion) in regional GDP in the first three quarters of this year and it is ready to continue in is success, Lin said.

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The next step is to expand its makerspace, cultivating and attracting more high-tech companies, advocating and customizing supportive policies and creating a friendly atmosphere for innovators, he said.

"Tianhe has significant human resources, a large high-tech community, an active market, convenient financing facilities, efficient services, handy transportation and established infrastructure," Lin said.

"We are confident in and capable of boosting innovation and entrepreneurship."

The district, which contributed almost 20 percent of the city's GDP, has been a favorite among innovators and investors in Guangzhou.

Occupying just 1.8 percent of the city's area, Tianhe has the lion's share in investment and service providers.

Government data shows that by 2015, 87 percent of Tianhe's industrial output value was coming from the tertiary sector, reaching the level of moderately developed countries.

Home to 530 high-tech companies and 527 software enterprises, Tianhe credits 30 percent of its economic growth in 2016 to the fast-growing information technology industry, doubling the rate of 2014.

Behind Tianhe's strong performance amid China's economic slowdown is the unreserved support from the district government.

Pan Weizhi, a member of the Party's standing committee of Tianhe, said the district has implemented favorable policies to attract investment and talent since 2015, with funding varying from 300,000 yuan to 5 million yuan per project.

To date, the district government has spent 320 million yuan bringing in investment projects and high-level professionals. Approximately 2,350 companies and 140 people have benefited from the policies.

"Thanks to Tianhe district for giving us support in education, technology, information and every other aspect they could think of," said Zhao Haizhou, vice-president of Kugou, a Guangzhou-based music streaming service provider. "Not just providing us with a rental discount, bonuses for talents and support for our events, they also helped us to get funding and support on the provincial and even national levels."

Huang Zhuo, CEO of Gizwitz, another local high-tech startup, shared the same opinion.

"Our success couldn't have been achieved without Tianhe, the welcoming, open-minded and innovation-driven district," Huang said. "I think the real luck for a company is that the government officers are more than willing to link you up with the necessary resources."

(China Daily 12/09/2016 page10)