Beijing's Zhongguancun hi-tech park, affectionately known as 'China's Silicon Valley' intends to build a base for digital R&D, through an investment of 30 million yuan (US$3.62 million), with the intention of promoting the digital industry and aiding related enterprises.

"In recent years, digital appliances such as palmtop computers, cellphones and digital cameras have gained popularity in China," said Xu Feng, a technical supervisor of the base. "One of our plans to promote digital products is to encourage the use of High Definition Television (HDTV). However, HDTV works to its full potential only if it is showed with high definition TV programs tailored for it. And China has very limited such programs." Xu went on to say that it was with this in mind that the base plans to distribute some 2,000 discs of high definition TV programs and films for free to promote the technology.