Xiamen looks to become China's innovation hub

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Xiamen, a port in east China's Fujian Province, couldn't be a better place to live and work, according to central Hubei Province native Fu Qiang, who settled in the coastal city 11 years ago.

From working as an amateur designer of electronic games in 2006, Fu is now general manager of Leiting Games, a subsidiary of G-bits Network Technology Xiamen Co.

As one of four special economic zones founded in 1980, the city has attracted thousands of young talents, such as Fu, thanks to an inviting environment that provides beautiful scenery, a good business environment and excellent employment prospects at high-tech companies.

"I loved the city from the moment I first came here. The natural and social environments, including tree-lined streets and neighborhoods, are the most important potential factors for attracting talent and professionals. So, many engineers and technicians swarm to this city and start internet-related businesses," Fu, 36, said.

A customer experiences visual reality equipment made by G-bits, a company in Xiamen that focuses on internet game design and development. /Xinhua Photo

He added that people in Xiamen are willing to stay with one company far longer than their peers at businesses in first-tier cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, to improve their designs and products.

"A stable team is key to making electronic games that appeal to young people," he said.

With products carefully designed and promoted by Fu and his team, Leiting Games is popular in Vietnam, Malaysia and the United States.

G-bits, the parent company of Leiting Games, was founded 13 years ago to develop online games based on traditional Chinese culture. Last year, App Annie, a market data provider in the US, ranked the company as 47th among global mobile app developers.

Thanks partly to the contributions of young engineers, G-bits' market capitalization soared more than 17 billion yuan (2.5 billion US dollars) six months after it listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Last year, it generated a net income of 800 million yuan.

G-bits is just one of 2,671 companies at the Xiamen Software Park, where more than 92,000 people are employed. Those businesses earned combined revenue of 70 billion yuan last year, a year-on-year rise of more than 20 percent, according to Huang Qiang, Xiamen's executive vice-mayor.

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Source(s): China Daily