Chengdu is building an alliance of world-class scientific and industrial development zones.

At a summit attended by representatives from development zones on May 10, Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone and Sophia Antipolis, a leading European technology park, proposed building a confederation of firstclass hi-tech parks.

The proposal won applause, and about 80 representatives from around the world at the summit passed a declaration that encourages collaboration.

The summit was part of the 2017 Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair held in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.

Phi l ippe Mar iani , chief executive officer of Sophia Ant ipol i s in France, sai d collaboration between technology parks will not only stimulate their development but also allow companies in the parks to interact with each other.

The alliance will push them to share resources and facilitate their development, he said.

Some of the participants at the summit were from the Torch High Technology Industry Development Centre, part of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai, Shenzhen Science and Technology Industrial Park in Guangdong province and Xi’an Hi-Tech Industries Development Zone in Shaanxi province.

In addition to Sophia Antipolis, hi-tech parks in United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, India, Israel, Canada, and Qatar also sent delegates to the summit.

Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone has been exploring extensive co-operation with the word’s first-class technology parks.

In 2016, the zone and Sophia Antipolis signed a deal to become sister parks. In June, it will send a delegation to the French hi-tech park to conduct exchanges.

Sophia Antipolis will set up an innovation centre at its Chengdu sister park, building a bridge for co-operation between Chengdu businesses and those in France.

A representative?from Barcelona Science Park in Spain said he is impressed with Chengdu’s environment for entrepreneurship.

He is amased at Chengdu’s economic development and hopes to find opportunities for his park to work with Chengdu in biotechnology, he said.

Before the summit, 11 key programmes at the Chengdu Tianfu International Biotown started construction, with combined investment of 11.5 billion yuan (￡1.3 billion).

Officials from Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone said the zone will introduce a plan for partnerships with the world’s best technology parks and build an international platform to attract top-level talent worldwide, a move that will build Chengdu into a centre of opening-up in western China.