Some floors in the Hailong Electronics Mall in Beijing's Zhongguancun have been empty. (Photo/Beijing Youth Daily）
(ECNS) -- The Hailong Electronics Mall in Beijing's Zhongguancun, dubbed China's Silicon Valley, officially ended its 17 years of operation on Thursday, Beijing Youth Daily reported.
"We used to have more than 500 businesses here, but last year we began to scale them down floor by floor," said a Hailong executive. "However, today's announcement about the close-down is different from that of the Zhongguancun E-Plaza. It is just that the Hailong will begin to pursue a transformed development."
According to a notice issued by Hailong, operations on its first to fifth floors would be halted from July 7 for renovation and upgrading, which would turn the mall into a smart hardware innovation center. So far, dozens of innovative tech companies and incubators have been introduced, it was added.
The Hailong mall opened in 1999. In recent years, products, sales channels and technology have experienced rapid change, so "transformed development is a must," explained the executive.
Hailong's rivals, the Zhongguancun E-Plaza and the Pacific Computer Plaza, closed down in 2015 and 2011 respectively, and became office buildings mainly hosting business incubators.
According to the newspaper, a vendor surnamed Yu, 45, said, "I have been doing business here for 16 years and really don't want to leave."
Another vendor in his 20s said he had shifted part of his business to his hometown in Shandong Province. Another vendor said: "I don't know what else I can do as a middle-aged man."
