To date, more than 70,000 high-tech companies have settled in the Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone in Shanghai and some 27,000 of them have applied for patents, with most of them obtaining patent certification.

And the number of patent applications continues to increase. A total of 59,902 patent applications were submitted by companies in the zone in 2017, compared with 50,970 in 2016 and 43,925 in 2015, and a total of 32,469 patent applications were approved in 2017, up from 27,567 in 2016.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, a pioneer chipmaker in China, tops the list for the number of patent applications by an enterprise in the zone, with a total of 9,657 patent applications submitted between 1991 and 2017.

To support the technological innovation endeavors in the zone, its administration is sparing no efforts to promote the protection of intellectual property rights.

China (Pudong) Intellectual Property Protection Center, the first of its kind in China, is located in the zone. The center provides quick review, verification and rights protection services for enterprises, which are mainly involved in the high-end equipment and biomedicine fields. It has also significantly shortened the approval period for patent applications.

Training courses have also been launched in the zone to give people more knowledge about IP right protection.

And one of the largest IP service platforms in the country is due to be launched in the zone in the near future with support from a third party company.

A subsidiary of Shanghai Jingyuan Group is constructing the platform, which it will also operate.

To protect the IP rights of innovation-oriented enterprises in the zone, Shanghai Jingyuan Group has been focusing on IP services and working to establish an IP friendly environment for startups in the zone.

"The IP environment is essentially a community that offers IP-related services for newly established technology companies that don't have enough assets and capital to protect their core technologies," said Qiu Kejun, general manager of the Shanghai Jingyuan Group.

Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone in Shanghai was the first national-level high-tech zone approved by the State Council in 1988. It has reported outstanding results in its support of the city becoming a globally influential technology and innovation hub.

Zhangjiang High-tech Park, a renowned high-tech hub in itself in the zone, is home to a great number of foreigninvested research and development centers. The Jinqiao Park, which is known for its export processing businesses, is also part of the zone.

Over the past three decades, the zone has become a gathering place for innovative businesses and emerging industries. The zone is home to more than 70,000 high-tech companies employing some 2.1 million people. It is increasingly popular with multinational pharmaceutical companies due to its equipment facilities, complete industrial chain, premium services and innovative policies.

To date, more than 1,900 research and development centers and 44 academic institutes have settled in the zone.

The number of Fortune Global 500-listed companies with a presence in the zone was 325 as of Sept 25, accounting for one-third of the total in China.

The zone has established five industrial clusters over the past three decades - future information technologies, high-end equipment manufacturing, biotechnology, energy saving and new materials. In 2017, key companies in the zone reported a combined operating income of 4.69 trillion yuan ($673 billion). The value of industrial throughput was 1.44 trillion yuan.