Situated by Lihu Lake, the core of Taihu Lake, Wuxi (National) Industrial Design Park, the only State-level industrial design park in China, features a beautiful landscape, fresh air, the wisdom of creation and the inspiration of design, and sees the collision between the beauty of nature and the beauty of art. With a planned area of just 2.5 sq km, the industrial design park has become a place pursued by R&D institutes and design talents both at home and abroad with its advanced conceptions and unique charm.    

Industrial design is an emerging industry with huge potential. Wuxi (National) Industrial Design Park is the first industrial design themed high-tech park at home developed with approval from the Ministry of Science and Technology in May 2003. Based on the decade-long Wuxi Liyuan Economic Development Zone (built in June 1992 and approved by the provincial government in December 1993), it transforms from a traditional industrial park to a design and research-oriented park through evolution in philosophy and industrial upgrade. Construction of the industrial design park has received great attention from leaders at the central, provincial, municipal and district levels. Li Yuanchao, presently member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPC, secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee and head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee and then secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the CPC, spoke highly of the creativity of the industrial design park during his visit to the park. The municipal government has set up a leading group for the industrial design park, which includes an administrative committee for the industrial design park that shares the same workers and offices with the Administrative Committee of Liyuan Development Zone.

After years of development, industrial design has become the spotlight and theme of regional development. The park was recognized by China National Intellectual Property Administration as Wuxi (National) Industrial Design IPRs Park in September 2006, and recognized by Jiangsu Development & Reform Commission as Wuxi (National) Industrial Design Park Public Service Platform and a modern service cluster in Jiangsu Province, and recognized by Jiangsu Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and Jiangsu Province Human Resources and Social Security Department as Jiangsu International Service Outsourcing Demonstration Area and Jiangsu Wuxi Lakeside Overseas Returnees Entrepreneurship Park in 2007; in June 2008, a postdoctoral work station was set up with approval from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China; in October 2009, Wuxi Design Chamber of Commerce was established, awarded a plaque as an industrial design demonstration base by China Industrial Design Association, and awarded a plaque as Jiangsu Integrated Circuit Public Service Platform by Jiangsu Department of Science and Technology.     

Guided by the outlook on scientific development, the park is aimed to be a “pioneering area for innovation-oriented development, a spotlight of the design city, an industrial demonstration area of the city, a beautiful and livable ecological area and an exceptional new area at lakeside”. It sticks to the strategy of making design a shining brand and making relevant industries strong, and prioritizes the construction of project carriers and investment promotion. It has seen the construction of 800,000-sq m carriers for innovation, entrepreneurship and creation, including the Creation Park, Lakeview Technology Park, Industrial Design Plaza, 530 Plaza, Lianchuang Plaza and Jiacheng International, and the development of four functional sections, i.e. industrial design incubation base, creative industrial park, R&D and design buildings and life support section. More R&D buildings and high-tech parks, including the Energy Conservation Plaza, Shanghai Center · Chengkai International, Creation Park Phase III and the National Integrated Circuit (Wuxi) Design Center, are planned or constructed based on high standards and in the principle of reasonably using every inch of land and maximizing the benefits of land, so as to achieve intensive and clustering development.

The Industrial Park Public Service Platform is a sub-platform of the technological entrepreneurship service platform of Jiangsu Province. Supported by relevant authorities at provincial, municipal and district levels, the platform was built with RMB84 million of investment, and covers an area of 5,337 sq m. It’s the first public entrepreneurship service platform at home that provides industrial design enterprises and designers with professional and systematic services. The platform consists of a supercomputing center, an IC test center, a computer aided design studio, an information inquiry system, a fast forming system, design works exhibition, a training center and a professional design center, and features five functions, i.e. exhibition & trading, aided design, fast forming, information inquiry and talent training. The new-type mechanism characterized by “diversified investment, enterprise-based management and marketized operation” is adopted for the supercomputing center and IC test center, leading to significant improvements in operating efficiency. To strengthen IPRs protection, the park set up the “Appearance Design Patent Service Station”, kicked off the construction of an industrial design IPRs information service platform in an all-round way, and developed an industrial design IPRs and fruits trading platform based on Jiangnan Property Rights Exchange to promote the conversion of creative ideas into fortune. As a result, it saw fruitful results in IPRs exhibition & trading, IPRs transfer consulting and high-tech property rights trading.   

The park has attracted 250 tenants related to design and R&D, including the Institute of Software of CAS, Jiujiu Animation Creation Co., Ltd., Machine Intelligence R&D Center of Nanjing University of Science & Technology, Wuxi Tongjie Automobile Design Co., Ltd. and China Key System & Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. It has introduced 78 “530” projects, which cover fields like electronic information, biopharmaceuticals, software technology, environmental protection, service outsourcing and new energy; companies like Wuxi Airui Chip Electronic Co., Ltd., Wuxi Virtual Reality Automotive Instrument Control Co., Ltd. and Wuxi Nasheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd. have carried out operation successfully with cheerful market prospects. In 2009, the Industrial Design Park reported a total revenue of RMB33.126 billion, up 23.43% YoY, including RMB14.308 billion from taxable industrial sales, up 23.29% YoY and RMB18.811 billion from taxable service sales, up 23.61% YoY; the fiscal revenue was RMB925 million, up 20.1% YoY; the general budget revenue stood at RMB474 million, up 19.70% YoY; investment in fixed assets totaled RMB2.61 billion, up 10.61% YoY; foreign investment put in place reached US$29.52 million; self-run export was US$271 million, up 5.90% YoY; US$50 million of outsourced services were received, and execution of US$30 million was completed.     

Creation arouses enthusiasm, entrepreneurship leads us to dreams and innovation empowers the city. As the core part of the famous city of design, the park will make use of current technological resources and carriers, and build itself into a base for design service outsourcing and industrialization and a design service outsourcing cluster with unique advantages to take industrial design to a higher level. Ultimately, it’s aimed to develop into an outstanding and innovation-oriented new town at lakeside that centers on technological R&D, features industrial design, takes the form of urban economy and integrates industries with high added values, business office, supporting services and a beautiful living environment.