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Chen, Chinas silicon pioneer, dead at 70 TAIPEI, Taiwan — Chen Chunxian, the scientist credited with setting up Chinas Silicon Valley, died Monday Aug. 9，2004 at the age of 70, according to state media reports. In 1980, four years after the death of Communist Chinese leader Mao Zedong and the opening of China, Chen walked away from a coveted position at the national Chinese Academy of Sciences to launch a high-tech development company in the Zhongguancun area of Beijing. Chen, a Soviet-trained scientist and one of Chinas top plasma researchers at the time, was apparently inspired to set up the firm after a visit to Californias Silicon Valley. Although his company eventually failed, his pioneering effort is credited with helping other tech-minded entrepreneurs. Sitting on the northwest outskirts of Beijing, Zhongguancun eventually transformed from a sleepy academic district into a bustling electronics bazaar, with a mlange of privately funded retail shops driving its growth. In 1988, the city government officially established the Haidian Science Park within the Zhongguancun area and about a decade later the central government created the Zhongguancun High-tech Zone, encompassing about 100 square kilometers and making it Beijings largest tech-oriented zone. Considered the cradle of Chinas fabless industry, Zhongguancun also houses more than half of the countries Internet firms and the park administration believes some 6,000 companies — 70 percent of which are tech firms — have offices within its borders. In 2000, the parks revenue of $14 billion accounted for 60 percent of Beijings industrial growth, according to the park administration. More than a decade after Chens pioneering endeavor, the failure of his company still registered more with Chen then the IT legacy he had been a part of. He was quoted as saying: I dont consider myself a hero. A true hero should be rewarded with success. State media did not report the cause of Chens death.