Woman in China Power Valley Dedicated to Promoting High-Tech Development to the World

Zhou Qi attends the 12th National Women's Congress of China, as a delegate from Hunan Province. [For Women of China]

Zhou was born in the mid -1970s. She studied hard when she was a child, because she wanted to become a woman who would make contributions to China's development. When she attended Southwest Jiaotong University, the school's motto taught her to make unremitting efforts to improve herself, and to give back to society. When she continued her studies in the United States, she felt proud of her home country.

No Regrets

Zhou is native of Hengyang, a city in Hunan Province. Her mother, Huang Peide, used to be a member of Hengyang's municipal volleyball team. In the 1960s, many professional athletes, who had played on Hunan's provincial teams, were employed by enterprises or factories in the province. When Huang worked at a nonferrous metallurgy machinery plant in Hengyang, she established a women's basketball team with her colleagues, who used to be members of Hunan's provincial volleyball, basketball, handball, bicycle and parachute teams.

As Zhou recalled her childhood, she said she often watched her mother play basketball and cheered for her mother when her mother won a game. Influenced by her mother, Zhou is good at sports. "I actually dreamed of becoming a professional athlete," Zhou told Women of China.

Zhou left Hunan Province when she was 18. She studied computer applications, in undergraduate and master's programs for seven years at Southwest Jiaotong University, in Chengdu (capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province).

After she graduated from Southwest Jiaotong University, she moved to Shenzhen, in South China's Guangdong Province, where she worked at Huawei's branch office for three months. Then, she went to the United States, in August 2001, to study computer science, in a Ph.D. program, at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

In 2003, Zhou noticed the electronic-information industry was developing rapidly in China. "Many electrocommunication enterprises from China were recruiting high-end talents who were studying in New Jersey, and who were interested in the electronic-information industry. Through communications with representatives of those enterprises, I realized my country would provide an enabling environment for talents, in the field of information technology, to fulfill their dreams and career goals," Zhou explained.

In February 2004, Zhou returned to China and chose to continue her career in the electronic-information industry. She has no regrets.

From Shenzhen to Zhuzhou

During the first year after she returned to China, Zhou relocated to Shenzhen and was hired by a semiconductor silicon chip-retail company, NuHorizons. By contacting various electronic and electrical production plants in China, she learned the basic designs and work mechanisms of domestic electric products.

In 2005, Zhou registered her own company in Shenzhen with several of her former classmates, who had also studied abroad before. At first, Zhou's company focused on doing silicon chip sales agent business. As her company gradually developed, Zhou started to do business related to Internet of Things (IOT).

Zhou planned to develop her business smoothly; however, the devastating earthquake, which hit Wenchuan and many other places in Sichuan in May 2008, affected her plans. She asked herself: "What's the meaning of studying abroad and running a business to earn money?" Recalls Zhou: "Sichuan was the place where I spent much of my youth when I was a student. But I couldn't do much to help people there as they suffered from the natural disaster. The disaster urged me to think about the true meaning of my life. I realized only if I delivered happiness to the people and communities I loved would I shoulder my social responsibilities, and fulfill my value, as a helpful person," Zhou recalled.

During the latter half of 2008, Zhou heard the news that Gaoxin District, in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, was recruiting high-end talents, from across China, to participate in overall planning and development of the country's electronic-information industry.

"Working for our government means working for our people. Working for our people is the best way to fulfill my value as a citizen, and to give back to my motherland," Zhou says. With that thought in mind, she applied to work at Gaoxin District. In January 2009, after she passed tests and interviews, she relocated from Shenzhen to Zhuzhou.

Break One's Limits

After she moved to Zhuzhou, Zhou first worked at Gaoxin District's Investment and Cooperation Bureau. In 2009, she refined the PowerPoint presentation, which introduced the overall development of Gaoxin District. The presentation was used at a national-level investment conference, and it earned her a lot of praise.

While she worked at the bureau, Zhou studied technology development and trends in industries, such as electric information, new energy, new materials and automobiles. She suggested measures to attract investments and talented resources, from both home and abroad. For example, she used her network to promote cooperation between New Jersey Institute of Technology and a leading enterprise in Zhuzhou, CSR Electric Locomotive Institute. The two institutes established a high-speed rail Internet lab, in the United States, in July 2013.

Also in 2013, Zhou participated in the establishment of China Power Valley. She and her teammates racked their brains to find possible methods to import talent, advanced technologies and programs to the newly developed China Power Valley.

"During a period of time, I worked like a salesperson. I called my acquaintances, one by one, and asked them to recommend others who might be interested in China Power Valley. I told them about the development concepts and prospects of this compound," Zhou said.

Zhou, who worked in the high-tech industry for more than a decade, says it is important for everyone, regardless of gender, to "improve work abilities and break their limits."

In October last year, Zhou attended the 12th National Women's Congress of China, held in Beijing. She was a delegate from Hunan Province. In her opinion, Chinese women, who are living in the new era, must keep learning to achieve new progress in the high-tech industry. "Learning is a lifelong pursuit for us all. We must learn economic, social, and scientific knowledge and every possible method to solve the problems we will encounter in the future. Meanwhile, we must spread the moral virtues of our nation to promote positive energy," Zhou adds.

(Women of China)