OREANDA-NEWS. February 28, 2012. Anhui province's output value of hi-tech industries will top 1 trillion yuan (USD 159 billion) this year, local authorities said.

The Science and Technology Department of Anhui set a full-year target of 1 trillion yuan in gross production value of the high technology sector for 2012, up 20 percent from a year earlier.

As many as 400 hi-tech enterprises will be added in the province this year. Out of them, 220 ones will base themselves in Hefei, Wuhu and Bengbu, three cities comprising a state-level independent innovation experimental zone.

The zone is expected to generate 600 billion yuan for the hi-tech sector during the same period.

Speaking at a meeting on development and industrialization of hi-tech, authorities said last year saw rapid and sound growth in Anhui's hi-tech industries.

 The sector raised its production value by 46.5 percent year-on-year to 833 billion yuan in 2011. Its industrial value-added output reached 214 billion yuan, making up 14.2 percent of the province's gross domestic product (GDP). The growth rate of hi-tech industries was 3.5 percentage points higher than that of industry.

The Hefei, Wuhu and Bengbu experimental zone contributed to 63.4 percent of hi-tech production value, or 528 billion yuan.