The urban landscape of Changchun, Jilin. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin province, launched the first session of its news conference series on high-quality development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) on Nov 19. The event outlined major achievements in science and technology, industrial upgrading and regional transformation.

The city's GDP is expected to surpass 800 billion yuan ($112 billion) by year-end, according to the Changchun development and reform commission.

The Changchun science and technology bureau also reported robust innovation momentum: R&D expenditure has increased by 48 percent, local transformation of scientific and technological achievements has grown sixfold, and the number of high-tech enterprises exceeds 3,500.

The city has supported 83 early-stage hard-tech projects through a future seed fund and enabled laboratory innovations to scale through concept-validation centers and pilot-testing platforms.

Within this landscape, the administrative committee of Changchun New Area highlighted a diversified innovation ecosystem. The area hosts 21 percent of the province's high-tech enterprises. Intelligent robotics is rapidly advancing, with key projects and high-energy research platforms driving significant breakthroughs.

The management committee of Changchun Jingyue High-tech Industrial Development Zone showcased progress in the low-altitude economy. As the only site in Northeast China selected for the national low-altitude economy regulatory sandbox, the zone has developed a low-altitude flight service platform, a communication network and a cold-region test field.