In the northwest suburb, Zhongguancun Electronics Avenue refers to the area from Baishiqiao Road to Haidian Road. As 80% of the business here is in the field of electronics, it has become Beijing’s “Silicon Valley.” There are more than 50 institutions of higher learning in the neighborhood. In addition to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, there are 138 research centers, which employ approximately 80,000 technicians. College students and research workers here come to around 100,000; of these posts-graduates make up 16,000.

Since the founding of New China, government investment in this area has already reached 10 billion yuan. The scope of its products continues to grow, and the market has begun to boom. In 1983, there were only 11 high-tech firms in the area; in 1984 the number grew to 40; by 1985 there were 90. And by the end of 1987,the number of independent scientific and technical firms on the avenue totaled 148. The firms fall into three broad categories: (1) National or collective companies set up by state organizations, scientific academies or institutions of higher learning; (2) Collective companies managed and operated by holding basis. These ventures combine the investment of scientific research organization and work units in the Haidian area; (3) Collective corporations organized by technicians and individuals.