An aerial photo of the bustling streets in the Optics Valley of China during the day and at night. [Photo/Optics Valley of China]

In 2024, the East Lake High-tech Development Zone (also known as Optics Valley of China, or OVC) will continue focusing on the construction of Wuhan New City, as well as prioritize eight major work aspects.

The eight aspects are: contributing to Wuhan's endeavor to become a nationally influential sic-tech innovation center, becoming a world-class emerging business hub, becoming a reliable engine for provincial economic growth, strengthening the high-efficiency distribution of resources, setting up an open and multi-dimensional collaboration network, setting a benchmark as a modern and hospitable wetland city with Chinese characteristics, enhancing public welfare, and implementing law-based principles.

To be more specific, the valley will expand 11 subdivided industrial chains, focusing on emerging sectors such as emerging storage, high-end optical chips, new-type display devices, and intelligent vehicles.

Efforts will also be made to polish and upgrade the influence of the "OVC global industry partner" brand, while also doubling the number of signed project contracts that have a value of more than 5 billion yuan ($696.5 million) and 10 billion yuan.

To drive up consumption, the valley will give weight to livestreaming e-commerce, instant retail and other new shopping models. It will also develop a festival economy, renovate its major business complexes, and build more special food streets.

OVC will also build two new talent service stations, and strive to bring the total number of high-end innovative talents to 4,000. Meanwhile, by the end of 2024, OVC will strive to achieve its goal of having more than 150,000 registered enterprises.

The government will offer more assistance to companies that are willing to expand into overseas market, and will boost its connectivity with the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

To optimize its city functions, OVC will build 10 more parks, 300,000 square meters of green spaces, and 30 kilometers of green trails in 2024. At the same time, it will also open over 100 km of roads for intelligent connected vehicle testing, and add five main roads to further prevent traffic jams.

In education and healthcare, the valley is expected to open five new kindergartens and expand 12 primary and secondary schools. It will also inaugurate the Optics Valley People's Hospital, introduce one or two provincial-level doctors, construct the Optics Valley Cultural Center, and open five more OVC libraries to the public within the year.

Please refer to the official WeChat account of Optics Valley of China (中国光谷 in Chinese) to gain the full version of the valley's 2024 work plan.