Returnee startups battle it out in Changning
A startup competition for entrepreneurs returning from abroad wrapped up in Changning District over the weekend.
Over 400 entrepreneurs who went abroad to study or work but returned home to open businesses took part in the 7th Shanghai Overseas Returnees Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference.
Chu Yongyan, a postgraduate from RWTH Aachen University in Germany, won the top award after fierce competitions for his intelligent driving system based on radar.
Chu studied and worked in Germany for 20 years, but returned to China along with his team to establish a technology company. It has received two rounds of over 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) investments, according to the organizers.
Yin Hong, deputy Party secretary of Shanghai, told participants that the city would do more to attract top professionals and establish innovation platforms for them to show their talents.
"Talent is the wealth to the country and the top resource of Shanghai," Yin said.
Other winning projects cover leading innovative industries such as artificial intelligence, equipment manufacturing and smart life.
Apart from the competition, scientists and experts such as Wang Zhonglin, director and chief scientists with Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, were invited to talk about their latest achievements.
Changning has a large number of foreign residents and policies to attract returnees. Those who want to base their startups in Changning are entitled to discounts on rents, housing subsidies, subsidized loans, maker spaces and fast administrative approval.
The district's human resources bureau has a one-stop service center for overseas talent in Hongqiao, offering policy guidance, license and certificate applications, finance, taxation and applications for residence permits.