Qingdao eyes Silicon Valley's startup ecosystem

The Qingdao municipal government held an online matchmaking meeting with the Plug and Play Tech Center (PNP), a self-described "global innovation platform" from Silicon Valley, on March 24.

Four high-quality projects in emerging industries from around the world conducted an online roadshow organized by PNP.

The projects involved artificial intelligence, virtual reality, computer vision, possible application scenarios of telemedicine, automatic substation patrols, new infrastructure such as 5G networks, industrial internet, data centers, basic software, high-definition video, and more.

Project leaders also conducted in-depth discussions with staff members from Qingdao's industrial parks and development zones, representatives from local enterprises, and investors involved in project development, technical cooperation, and financing issues.

PNP is hailed as the world's largest startup accelerator and one of the most active VCs in Silicon Valley.

Last November, Jeff Chien, senior vice president of PNP, visited Qingdao to discuss with the Party secretary of Qingdao how to build a platform for global cooperation in innovation.

Xue Qingguo, vice mayor of Qingdao, unveiled that Qingdao had originally planned to visit PNP in the United States in March and inspect its high-tech projects under incubation.

"The sudden novel coronavirus outbreak has forced us to cancel this visit," Xue said, "but the virus cannot stop the will to pursue common development. This online meeting shows the confidence of entrepreneurs in the development of Qingdao during this challenging time."

In his speech, Xue also discussed the technological innovation capabilities of Qingdao to overseas entrepreneurs and invited them to invest in the city, which he claimed offered unprecedented opportunities.

Chien said in his speech that PNP has cooperated with many cities and that Qingdao seems committed to accelerating urban development through innovation. He expressed eagerness to further cooperation with the city.

"We hope that through innovation, we will be able to promote the integration of high-tech projects with the existing ecosystem in Qingdao and help build an industrial ecosystem in the city."

"Qingdao has developed a platform for local investors and incubators to interact with international industry giants such as PNP and complement each other's strengths," said Liu Changwen, general manager of Hai Chuanghui (HCH), an entrepreneurial platform for Haier Group.

"We have industrial resources while PNP has scientific and technological resources, providing the basis for strategic cooperation to advance the urban development of Qingdao."