The chip design and manufacturing industry in Wuhan will get a boost from the East Lake High-tech Zone after its administrative committee recently unveiled plans to vigorously develop the industry in the coming five years, media reported.

The committee said it is confident it can turn the industry into an economic mainstay of the zone with annual output value reaching 100 billion yuan ($16.1 billion) within five years.

The high-tech zone in the Central China province of Hubei already has more than 2,000 professional chip design technicians, said Zou Xuecheng, a professor of semiconductor engineering at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and director of the Wuhan office of a national center for talent in the field.