More support for delta region's entrepreneurs

China will increase support for entrepreneurship in the Yangtze River Delta region, with special coupons for startups and the sharing of research resources, Shanghai Daily learned at the ongoing Pujiang Innovation Forum on Wednesday. 

The delta region — Shanghai and three neighboring provinces — has become a highland of tech innovation, according to the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center, under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The number of incubation bases in the region accounts for about 30 percent of the national level. It has 30,000 professional research devices, many in various shared platforms in the region to improve efficiency and cut costs, officials told the forum. 

Among the 188 listed firms on the STAR Market, 90 are based in the region, with 38 from Jiangsu Province, 31 from Shanghai, 15 from Zhejiang Province and six from Anhui Province. 

The region should focus on strategic research such as integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence to achieve breakthroughs as soon as possible, according to Duan Junhu, vice chairman of the Torch center. It should take measures to support startups and small and medium sized enterprises. Shanghai should focus more on innovation that targets international markets, Duan said.

Shanghai will offer startups and qualified firms coupons for registration, operation and research, up to 500,000 yuan (US$73,530) for each firm. The coupons will be available to all firms in the delta region.

China’s high tech and startup firms created 4.5 million jobs nationwide last year, according to a report. 

Innovation and entrepreneurship has created many new kinds of jobs this year after the pandemic hit traditional retail and manufacturing industries, analysts said.

Ti Gong