The State Council has approved upgrading a high-tech industrial zone in Xinyang, Central China’s Henan province, to a national industrial development zone, according to a circular issued on June 16.

The upgraded Xinyang development zone will cover an area of 11.00 square kilometers, with Jinggang'ao (Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao) Expressway on the east, National Highway 312 on the south, Shijiazhuang-Wuhan high-speed railway on the west and Beihuan road on the north.

The zone should further promote mass innovation and entrepreneurship while cultivating new industries, new business formats and models to boost upgrades in the real economy.

The zone is expected to become a demonstration zone for innovation-driven development and a frontier in high-quality development by cultivating new growth engines and improving the modernization of industrial development.

The circular also urged the zone to strictly abide by national land use plans and other related guidelines, and go through approval procedures for land use according to regulations. Construction of the zone should be based on the principles of economical and intensive use of land resources.

Related departments should strengthen leadership and management of the zone and explore a sound ecosystem to speed up its high-quality development, the circular said.