Ordos in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region ranks 15th in the inaugural "Report on the Development of New Quality Productive Forces in Chinese Cities 2025", which was recently released by the Capital Institute of Science and Technology Development Strategy. Ordos is the only city in Inner Mongolia to place among the top 20.

The top 20 cities in China in the development of new quality productive forces. [Photo/WeChat account of Nuan news]

The Capital Institute of Science and Technology Development Strategy releases the "Report on the Development of New Quality Productive Forces in Chinese Cities 2025". [Photo/WeChat account of Nuan news]

Behind this achievement are Ordos' unswerving efforts to attract talent and promote technological development.   

In 2024, Ordos launched the 2.0 version of its "30 New Policies on Science and Technology". The city's R&D (research and development) expenditure amounted to 5.32 billion yuan ($730.97 million), accounting for 48.9 percent of the regional growth in R&D funding.

Notable scientific and technological advancements were successfully industrialized and put to practical use, such as green aviation fuel by integrating CO₂ with green hydrogen and a 100-megawatt industrial thermal energy storage system.

Additionally, Ordos established a network of talent and innovation bases in key cities including Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Xiong'an New Area. Over 50 new "Three-zero" enterprises are expected to be added, bringing the total number of national high-tech enterprises and technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises to more than 1,000. The "Three zeros" initiative refers to Ordos' efforts to boost R&D investment, the number of R&D institutions, and the number of invention patents among the city's industrial enterprises above a designated size.