A photo shows the spectacular night view of Optics Valley. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]

In the past year, East Lake High-tech Development Zone (Optics Valley of China) in Wuhan, the capital of Central China's Hubei province, achieved a regional GDP of 200.19 billion yuan ($30.97 billion), an increase of 5.1 percent, according to local media reports on Feb 17.

Seven core economic indicators all ranked first in Wuhan, including total GDP, the GDP growth rate, total industrial investment and its growth rate, and funds in place for investment promotion. It is also the first time that Optics Valley's GDP has hit 200 billion yuan.

Covering an area of 518 square kilometers, Optics Valley covers 6 percent of Wuhan's total area but creates 12.8 percent of the city's GDP.

In 2020, the sudden novel coronavirus outbreak pressed the "pause button" for 76 days in Wuhan, inflicting heavy losses on Optics Valley's industries. Many high-tech production lines, such as integrated circuits and semiconductor displays, faced a massive crisis.

Despite the unexpected disease outbreak, innovation still goes on in the zone under comprehensive COVID-19 prevention and control.

Following day-to-day scientific and technological research, the world's first ultra-high-throughput nucleic acid test laboratory, named Huoyan, or Fire Eye, was put into use in Optics Valley.

Xiaomi put its Wuhan headquarters building into use in 2020; it boasts more than 2,000 employees. Honeywell also set up its emerging market headquarters and innovation center in Optics Valley.

In 2020, the zone saw an investment of 85.4 billion yuan in place, total imports and exports increased by 12.3 percent, and actually utilized foreign capital reached $2.16 billion – all ranking first in Wuhan.

Optics Valley also settled 17,600 new companies in the past year, bringing the total number to 103,000 – accounting for 18 percent of Wuhan's total.