Why did you choose Shanghai? "This is the answer my team and I came up with after thorough research into the entrepreneurial environment in China and I learned a new term - dual creation." Karen Sucmon, Commercial Consul at the Australian Consulate-General in Shanghai, said.

On September 21, "7 Days of Discussion on Innovation and Entrepreneurship", one of the key activities of "Double Creativity Week", concluded at Xnode Creative Space in Jing'an District. Organized by the Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the event focused on the theme of innovation and entrepreneurship, and invited government representatives and leaders from seven districts, including Yangpu, Minhang, Hongkou, Xuhui, Jiading, Pudong and Jing'an, to share the most unique innovation and entrepreneurship ideas.

 

Over the past seven days, the characteristics of entrepreneurship in each district were highlighted here, and diverse innovative ideas collided here, outlining the highlights and vitality of Shanghai's innovation and entrepreneurship landscape.

 

International "twin-venture" projects, about one-fifth.

 

"Shanghai's international character may be unique in the country," Xie Jihua, general manager of the Yangpu District Science and Innovation Center, said. The center not only incubates many international projects, but also established the Shanghai London Innovation Center, Europe's largest incubator, in London last year, and the Boston Innovation Center this year, precisely to help more entrepreneurs go international.

 

There are more foreign entrepreneurs than local entrepreneurs at Xnode Jing'an Creative Space, which not only has more than 70 international creators from 25 countries and regions, but it is also one of five global bases in Australia. "In addition to startups, some big multinational companies have been attracted to the city, and at Xnode you can see the Paris Innovation Center and the Intel Innovation Center, and soon there will be three to five more multinational innovation centers. To them, Shanghai means internationalization, which can help them build their companies," Xnode founder Wei Zhou said.

 

Karen Sucmon, Commercial Consul at the Australian Consulate-General in Shanghai, said: "I see Shanghai as a vibrant, international city with endless opportunities, especially for entrepreneurs in China and around the world." According to the report, in 2015, the Australian federal government allocated $1.1 billion to implement the international innovation and technology agenda, and they established five bases in Silicon Valley, USA; Tel Aviv, Israel; Shanghai, China; Singapore; and Berlin, Germany. Why did they choose Shanghai? "That's the answer my team and I came up with after an in-depth study of China's entrepreneurial environment and I learned a new term - dual creation."    

 

"Pudong is already home to some 300 of the Fortune 500's various headquarters, and of these 300, more than 200 have established R&D facilities of various types, with more than 80,000 engineers and scientists engaged in research and development. We always keep and pay attention to the synchronization and alignment with the latest technology in the world." Tang Shiqing, vice-chairman of the Pudong New Area CPPCC and director of the New Area Science and Economic Commission, said Zhangjiang is not only a benchmark for technological development, but also a window to observe and understand the world's most cutting-edge developments.

 

Shou Ziqi, director of the Municipal Science and Technology Commission, introduced at the first event of "7 Days of Talk" that Shanghai's "Double Venture" has a high degree of internationalization, accounting for about 20%. 2017 "Entrepreneurship in Shanghai" For the first time, the International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition has been named "International", and for the first time a special section has been set up for "Foreign Entrepreneurship in Shanghai". There are about 500 creative spaces in Shanghai, although the number is large, the next step will be to guide them to develop into professional, international and branded spaces.

 

"Hard tech" accounts for 72% of the startup competition

 

This year's "Entrepreneurship in Shanghai" International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, "hard technology" features more distinctive than in previous years. Electronic information, advanced manufacturing, biomedicine, new energy and energy conservation and environmental protection, new materials and other fields accounted for 72%. The number of projects in hotspot fields such as artificial intelligence and big data increased significantly, from 25 and 274 in 2016 to 160 and 461 respectively. The proportion of projects in the Internet and mobile Internet fields dominated by model innovation decreased to 23.6% from 29.2% in 2016.

 

"Technological innovation should become the core driver of innovation and entrepreneurship in China." Gao Tian, executive director of the National Aviation Industry Fund and Chinese partner of the Oxford University Innovation Center, believes that the innovation industry needs the accumulation of talents, projects and time, which cannot be completed in a short time. According to reports, since its establishment in 1988, the Oxford University Innovation Centre has incubated more than 70 world-class companies with a success rate of 94%. This year, the Oxford University Innovation Centre's Chinese centre was set up in Hongkou District. "Simply put, it's about taking advanced foreign technology to land in China and integrating it organically with domestic enterprises, from which our businesses and industries will benefit."

 

"Can you imagine USB sticks and capsule gastroscopes, etc., coming from Israel?" Yang Guang, founding partner of Yewtow Capital, said that Israel, with only 8 million people and 25,000 square kilometers, has one of the highest R&D expenditures and per capita R&D expenditures in the world, showing us a path for technological innovation. In his view, "the penetration of smartphones has reached a peak, the dividend of the mobile Internet will pass, and the future belongs to technological innovation." According to the report, they were still very uncertain when investing in the field of technological innovation in 2015, because the capital was still mainly chasing business model innovation. But this year, a world-renowned investor, in the field of technological innovation, made a 100 billion capital, so that Yangguang feel that "the spring of technological innovation is really here!".

 

The creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem cannot be achieved without government action and inaction.

 

Jiang Yuan, chairman of Zhi Chun Technology, who grew up in Minhang and started his business here, said entrepreneurship requires a good ecology, just like plants need soil, sunlight, temperature and humidity to grow, and why Amazon is the place with the most new species in the world, because these conditions are just right.

 

The entrepreneurial ecosystem cannot be created without the government's presence. How do you make it as easy as shopping for innovative entrepreneurs? The Jiading Innovation and Entrepreneurship Building was officially inaugurated during the "Double Creativity" week, where all issues related to entrepreneurship, innovation, talent and technology enterprise development can be solved.

 

Minhang District has the largest fund of over 3 billion RMB in industry guidance, which is one of the largest in the city. This year, 20 key projects have been proposed to support the development of the "Double Venture", which involve issues of greatest concern to entrepreneurs, such as talent apartments, transportation and the shaping of the environment in the entrepreneurial community.

 

No coincidence. Xuhui District will also launch more than 2,000 talent apartments in a riverside location and will provide more convenience in terms of talent services. By the end of 2017, Jiading District plans to provide housing subsidies for 300 core team members, 2,000 talent apartments for entrepreneurs, and 10,000 "guest houses" for various entrepreneurs.

 

The creation of entrepreneurial ecology, also inseparable from the government's "inaction". Tang Shiqing is very excited that some entrepreneurs see him as a collaborator, "Innovation is not something that can be planned, nor can it be managed. If management is used, then innovation must have no future."

 

"The government should be a platform that normally makes companies not feel your presence, but when they need it, they can provide maximum support, and this relationship could be better for them," Zhou Haiying, deputy mayor of Jing'an District, said.

(Source: Shanghai Watch)