Representatives from the Nantong municipal government and the YRD National Technological Innovation Center ink a cooperation agreement on Dec 16. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

The YRD National Technological Innovation Center announced settlement of its first branch center in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, at a signing ceremony held in the city on Dec 16.

Approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the YRD innovation center was built by the relevant institutions in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces and is expected to offer technologies and technology transformation services and serve the cultivation and development of micro, small and medium-sized tech businesses.

Liu Qing, director of the YRD National Technological Innovation Center, said in his speech that the center has cooperated with Nantong to build two provincial-level innovation centers for shipbuilding and photoelectricity, as well as nine joint innovation centers.

The YRD innovation center will deepen its cooperation with the city to gather more sci-tech innovation resources and boost YRD's high-quality development, Liu added.

The Yangtze River Estuary Industrial Technology Innovation Alliance was launched on the same day. The alliance was set up by the YRD National Technological Innovation Center together with the government, industrial parks, enterprises, universities, institutes, and technology service providers within the Yangtze River Estuary area.

The alliance will bring industrial innovation resources to the Yangtze River Estuary, tackle technological problems, and sharpen the industrial and innovation edges of the scientific and educational advantages in the area.

Nantong saw increased enhancement in innovation this year with 1,428 newly-introduced innovation projects, another 736 high-tech businesses, and the output of its six major industrial clusters expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan ($140.26 billion).