Yanpu transforms from former 'rust belt' to 'show belt'

The transformation of old industrial zones has long been a world-class challenge. Pittsburgh, Detroit, Baltimore ... many manufacturing cities in the “Rust Belt” of the United States are all struggling to change.

Yangpu, once an old industrial district in Shanghai with a concentration of high energy-consuming and traditional manufacturing industries, also fought hard to survive and thrive amid the trend of industrial restructuring.

Yangpu has an advantage that other industrial zones rarely have — abundant university resources. A number of renowned Chinese universities such as Fudan and Tongji, frequently considered sources of innovation throughout the entire industry chain, are located within the district.

Silicon Valley, one of the most innovative regions in the world, offers a perfect example. Started with a technology park centered around Stanford University, it has incubated a large number of enterprises and industries with profound global influence.

In 2003, Shanghai made a major decision to build Yangpu into a knowledge-based innovation zone. Leveraging the advantage of its universities and drawing lessons from the “Stanford — Silicon Valley” model, the district is building its own “Fudan/Tongji — Yangpu” model, shifting from “industrial Yangpu” to “knowledgeable Yangpu,” and further toward “innovative Yangpu.”

The past 20 years have witnessed numerous successful examples how the district has evolved itself into a “show belt” from a former “rust belt.”

Shanghai Luoman Lighting Technologies Inc, which is now a domestic leader in landscape lighting, smart cities and AR/VR, began in 1999 as a simple light bulb factory on Huangxing Road. With two decades of development, the company managed to go listed on the main board of Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2021.

Meanwhile, the former site of China Textile Machinery Factory has been turned into an innovation park called Changyang Campus and is now home to more than 300 startups and nearly 10 unicorn enterprises.

The Great Knowledge and Innovation Community, a large innovation demonstration zone built near the Wujiaochang Subcenter and surrounded by universities, has attracted a number of well-known enterprises such as IBM and Bilibili, and incubated industry leaders such as UCloud and Agora.

Yangpu’s efforts to promote innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as cultivate and develop strategic emerging industries, were recently recognized and commended by the State Council.

For both entrepreneurs and R&D professionals, Yangpu has become an ideal place to start and expand their businesses, mainly due to its abundant academic resources and clustering of enterprises along the entire industry chain.

Yanpu is at the forefront of the integration of “universities, science and technology parks as well as communities,” with its Bay Valley Science and Technology Park, which sits close to both the Fudan campus and talent apartments.