The intelligent sensors industrial park that opened in Jiading on Dec 24 attracts a group of 32 companies to settle with total investments of 24.8 billion yuan. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn]

The intelligent sensors industrial park that opened in Jiading Dec 24 will add fuel to the local industrial clusters on integrated circuits (IC) and the internet of things (IoT), which are expected to reach output of 100 billion yuan ($14.3 billion) by 2025.

Highlighting intelligent sensors, a key role in China's intelligent manufacturing drive, the park will be devoted to the practical use of intelligent hardware in driving, robotics, medical care and education, and have its intelligent sensors businesses cover fields such as mechanics, optics, acoustics, calorifics, magnetics, and the environment.

Such businesses will be located in the northern part of the park, which has the intelligent sensors industry as its foundation and IoT applications as its driving force.

According to Zhang Xi, Party secretary of Jiading, the IC and intelligent sensors industries have taken shape in the district and are rich in both economic foundation and scientific research resources. He said Jiading will continue to improve its industrial ecology, focus on key areas to strengthen its forward-looking layout, beef up efforts on key technology research, and speed up the integration of different platforms.

A total of 39 supporting policies were also launched, which give companies all-round help from the very beginning, concerning investment and financing, cost reduction, research and innovation, scale expansion, talent attraction, and cooperation and exchanges.

For example, financial support is a top priority for most start-up companies. To ease their burdens, Jiading plans to put forward specialized funds for industrial investment and development, which will enable financial institutions to support local companies in services such as listing subsidies and loans at discounted interest rates.

The park welcomed the first group of 32 companies to settle in the area, attracting gross investment of 24.8 billion yuan. Their businesses cover sensor chip design, manufacturing, testing, applications and packaging.

"We plan to build an innovation center in Jiading in the future and equip it with three platforms in company incubation, professional training, and investment and financing," said Ju Long, vice-president of SEMI, the international semiconductor industry association.