The Forum on Development of the New Energy Industry, themed “invest in Shenzhen and win the future,” kicked off on Nov 19 at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center. The forum, hosted by the Shenzhen investment promotion bureau and Shenzhen Solar Power Association, attracted 300 professionals in the new energy industry to discuss topics such as new energy automobiles, smart grids, photovoltaic power generation and green energy.

According to an introduction from the Shenzhen investment promotion bureau, the Shenzhen municipal government issued Policies on Shenzhen New Energy Industry Development in 2009 and has set up a special fund worth 3.5 billion yuan ($574.4 million) to support the development of the new energy industry. The city has launched projects including the Longgang nuclear power industrial base, Pingshan new energy automobile industrial base, Guangming solar power industrial agglomeration and Nanshan smart grid industrial agglomeration.

The Shenzhen investment promotion bureau has attracted 20 new energy industrial chain projects. There are 14 projects with total foreign investment of $2.84 billion, including construction of the headquarters of Everbright Environmental Protection (China), the Siemens smart city application center, and the phase two project of Du Pont Apollo (Shenzhen). The other six projects are funded by domestic companies with a total 4.5 billion yuan, including China City Construction Holding Group’s national new-energy battery R&D center, Yingli Solar’s south production base, and Hunan Corun New Energy Co’s national engineering R&D center for advanced energy storage materials.

All the high-end research and development projects in sectors such as solar photovoltaics, new energy battery and biomass energy will promote the city’s new energy industrial development.

Li Baoshan, deputy inspector of the Department of High and New Technology Development and Industrialization of the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that the new energy industry will be the focus of competition in the new round of economic development. Shenzhen should develop the new energy industry into a new economic growth point while constructing a national innovative city with sustainable development.