Hangzhou joins hands with Israel to promote innovation

An agreement on building an Israeli innovation center in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, is signed July 12. [Photo by Tong Zhizhong/zjol.com.cn]

Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province, is going to partner up with Israel in building an innovation center, according to an agreement reached at a China-Israel forum July 12.

Israel is one of the most innovative countries in the world and a good role model for Hangzhou, a city aiming to become an influential innovation center for "internet plus".

The newly launched innovation center, to settle at Hangzhou Economic Development Area (HEDA), will focus on advanced industries such as biomedicine, information technology and new materials, and will work to boost exchanges and cooperation between China and Israel in talent cultivation and technological innovation.

The center is indeed a cross-border incubator, said an official from the local science and technology department. In the following three to five years, there will be over 10 projects incubated here under the joint efforts of both sides, he said.

At the China-Israel forum, the management committee of HEDA and Bar-Ilan University, the second largest academic agency in Israel, also signed an agreement to seek opportunities for cooperation in a variety of sectors.