Yangpu's innovation hub as a demonstration park with national influence
The Great Knowledge and Innovation Community park near the historic Jiangwan Stadium in Yangpu District.
Shanghai aims to develop a demonstration culture industry park with national influence in downtown Yangpu District, featuring entrepreneurship and innovation.
The GKIC (Great Knowledge and Innovation Community) park near the Wujiaochang subcenter has been listed as one of China's 15 demonstration parks in the cultural sector, the only one of its kind in Shanghai.
More than 4,500 companies, including many startup firms, and some 170,000 knowledge staff are working in the sprawling park covering over 8 square kilometers.
"A new round of innovative development will be launched in the park to take better advantage of the resources of nearby universities in Yangpu, while highlighting the 'culture blending with technology' characteristic of the region," Xue Kan, the Party secretary and director of Yangpu, told a seminar over the weekend.
Xue said the Yangpu will gather its whole strength to create a hot spot for entrepreneurship at the GKIC Park, a core area to drive the city's integrated development strategy of local universities, innovation parks and communities.
The headquarters of China's major streaming platform Bilibili at the GKIC park.
Officials and experts, including Jin Lei, deputy director of the Shanghai Culture and Tourism Administration; Zheng Huiqiang, director of the Shanghai Services Federation; and Lou Yongqi, vice president of Tongji University; were invited to the seminar to guide the future development of the park.
The GKIC park was initiated by Shui On Land in 2003 to implement Shanghai's decision to create a knowledge and innovation hub in Yangpu. It's been expanded multiple times to include the Jiangwan and Wujiaochang areas and become the public activity center of Shanghai's northeast downtown.
With the GKIC park, Yangpu has become one of the first "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" demonstration bases in China.
In the decade from 2012 to 2022, Yangpu's gross domestic product jumped from 123.5 billion yuan (US$17.8 billion) to 207.7 billion yuan.
Daxue Road, within the GKIC park, is a hot spot for entrepreneurs and knowledge workers in Yangpu.
