OREANDA-NEWS. July 25, 2012. Hefei followed Beijing and Shanghai, ranking the third on the list of cities while Hefei-based University of Science and Technology of China won second place among research institutions, according to Science and Technology Daily, Nature released Nature Publishing Index 2011 China on July 22nd, ranking China's cities and research institutions by their basic research powers.

"A second-tier city by the definition of population or GDP, but a first-tier city in terms of research power" is the brief comment given to Hefei by the report. Since the approval of Hefei being China's first Innovation-oriented Pilot City by Ministry of Science and Technology in 2004, the municipal government has inspired dynamism and creativity in institutions through scientific management. The first approach to enhance Hefei as an innovation-oriented city conducted by the government is designing a comprehensive evaluating system in order to build a platform for sci-tech achievements and promote the development of emerging industries. Moreover, the management of sci-tech work was taken into account. Leadership Group of Independent Innovation leading by municipal leaders has been established to manage the works. Innovation Office is set up to organize innovative activities.

The mechanism of scientific investment has also been restructured. The previous three sorts of science and technology cost is collected as special fund for innovation to reduce waste and redundancy. Social intermediaries and market assessment are introduced as an objective commenting system.