Zhongguancun
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Zhong Guan Cun (often "Zhongguancun") (Chinese: 中关村; Hanyu Pinyin: zhōng guān cūn)is a technology hub in Beijing. It is known as "the Silicon Valley of China".
It is geographically situated in the northwestern part of Beijing city, in a band between the northwestern 3rd Ring Road and the northwestern 4th Ring Road.
Due to the proximity and participation of China's two most prestigious universities, Tsinghua University and Peking University, many analysts in the West are optimistic about Zhongguancun's future prospects. This is, in part, due to the similar role Stanford University played in the growth of the original Silicon Valley in California, USA.
Zhongguancun's was born in the early 1980s. The first person of Zhongguancun is Chen Chunxian, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), who came up with the idea for a Silicon Valley in China after he visited the U.S. as part of a government-sponsored trip. The location of the Chinese Academy of Sciences within Zhongguancun reinforced, and perhaps was in part responsible for the technological growth in this area.
Throughout the 1980s and still today, Zhongguancun was known as "electronics avenue," because of its connections to information technology and the preponderance of stores along a central, crowded street.
Zhongguancun was officially recognized by the central government of China in 1988. It was given the wordy name "Beijing High-Technology Industry Development Experimental Zone."
The current designation Zhongguancun refers commonly to the original site. However, officially (as of 1999) Zhongguancun has become the "Zhongguancun Science & Technology Zone." It is a zone with seven parks, including Haidian Park, Fengtai Park, Changping Park, Electronics City (in Chaoyang), Yizhuang Park, Desheng Park, and Jianxiang Park.
The original Zhongguancun is now known as the Haidian Park of the Zhongguancun Zone. The area and environs, however, remain the same.
Hailong Market, Guigu Market, Taipingyang Market, Dinghao Market and Kemao Market are the five prominent IT and electronics markets. They are technology bazaars, famous for their "shops with a shop", where prices are easily but grudgingly bargained. Zhongguancun shops mainly deal in PC-compatible hardware, peripherals and pirated software for Microsoft Windows. Macintosh users, when they exist, visit the nearby AppleCentre and Apple Experience Centre.
The most famous companies that grew up in Zhongguancun are Stone Group, Founder Group, and Lenovo Group. They were all founded in 1984-85. Stone was the first successful technology company to be operated by individuals outside the government in China. Founder is a technology company that spun-off Peking University. Lenovo Group spun-off from Chinese Academy of Sciences with Liu Chuanzhi, a hero of Zhongguancun and current Chairmain, eventually taking the helm. Both Founder and Lenovo Group maintain strong connections to their academic backers, who are significant shareholders.
Baidu and SINA Corporation are two companies known by China watchers in the West that were born and bred in Zhongguancun. They are both located in Lixiang Building.
According to the 2004 Beijing Statistical Yearbook, there are over 12,000 high-tech enterprises throughout Zhongguancun's seven parks, with 489,000 technicians employed.
In the Haidian Park, approximately 100,000 students graduate each year.
Despite the official designations, the name Zhongguancun continues to refer to northwest Beijing. The appellation is very well known among China's tech insiders, and throughout China in general.
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