China's innovation campaign starts in Yangpu
Nicolai Peitersen, co-founder and chairman at Wikifactory, gives a keynote speech on innovation and entrepreneurship at the opening ceremony of 2018 Innovation China campaign in Yangpu District today.
China's annual innovation and entrepreneurship campaign was launched in Yangpu District this morning with lectures and exhibitions offering visions to the future.
The Innovation China campaign, initiated by the National Development and Reform Commission and the China Association for Science and Technology, started at a newly unveiled national training center for entrepreneurs on Guoding Road E. The campaign will then tour across the country to encourage the general public to take part in entrepreneurship.
At the opening event in Yangpu which also marks the World Creativity and Innovation Day set by the United Nations, officials and experts including Nicolai Peitersen, co-founder and chairman at Wikifactory from Denmark, shared the latest trends on innovation and entrepreneurship worldwide.
As a highlight, the Yangpu government displayed a local street where many leading startup enterprises are based to give visitors a chance to explore and experience the future lifestyle.
Officials and entrepreneurs attend the opening ceremony of 2018 Innovation China campaign in Yangpu District today.
The street, which is named N-ICE2035 and translates into Neighborhood of Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship toward 2035, features unique restaurants, offices, entertainment venues that were built with new materials and technologies, including robots and artificial intelligence.
The project, a joint work of the College of Design and Innovation of Tongji University and the Siping Road subdistrict, aims to find a new way to renovate and protect old residential neighborhoods. If it proves popular among both residents and entrepreneurs, the idea will be expanded to other local communities, according to the district government.
In future, for instance, consumers may be able to design the flavor and ingredients of their own toothpaste and "produce" it at a nearby chain store or pharmacy, said Peitersen. People will take part in the whole designing process of manufacturing with the rise of the "micro factories," he added.
Shanghai has had over 500 innovative parks for startup firms by the end of 2017, mostly founded by various social organizations, said Ma Chunlei, director of the city's development and reform commission.
"There are currently over 16,000 startup firms in these parks with potentials to become ' unicorns,'" Ma told the opening ceremony of the event.
