Zhongguancun launches new initiative to support innovation programs

With the support of local investment institutions and information-oriented enterprises, Zhongguancun Development Group and Zhongguancun Software Park held a joint ceremony in Beijing on August 4 to inaugurate an innovation and entrepreneurship program titled 'Z Plan.'

As part of the 'Golden Seeds Initiative,' which is an enterprise action scheme sponsored by Zhongguancun Development Group, the newly launched 'Z Plan' program aims to find and nurture candidate firms with promising innovation and entrepreneurship potential and to provide them with support for their sustainable growth.

According to organizers, the 'Z Plan' program will use the 'Source of Innovation Competition' and 'Innovation & Entrepreneurship Acceleration Camp' as its major carriers and strive to meet the development needs of new infrastructure. The plan will additionally attach great importance to the industrial growth of big data, artificial intelligence and 5G, and select a group of candidate innovation- and entrepreneurship-oriented programs featuring key technologies, market competitiveness and application prospects.

The 'Source of Innovation Competition' has been co-organized by Zhongguancun Software Park and Zhongguancun Software Park Incubation Service Corporation on eight occasions, while the 'Innovation & Entrepreneurship Acceleration Camp' has acted as a key channel for recommending candidates for the 'Source of Innovation Competition' and provided them with long-term, follow-up services.

It is believed that the combination of both the 'Source of Innovation Competition' and 'Innovation & Entrepreneurship Acceleration Camp' will help the 'Z Plan' attract, explore and nurture a range of high-quality programs, while also facilitating their future growth and building a bridge between candidate programs and leading firms.

Professional investment and fundraising organizations will closely follow the development of candidate programs that are successfully selected to participate in the 'Innovation & Entrepreneurship Acceleration Camp.' Chosen programs are also entitled to receive financial assistance up to 1 million yuan to help them further stimulate innovation and support the integrated development of incubation and investment in Zhongguancun.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Zhu Jianhong, deputy director of Zhongguancun Science Park Administrative Committee, noted that the 'Z Plan' program will push the boundaries of science and technology, facilitate the application of scientific and technological achievements, strengthen connections with external resources and promote the pooling of resources for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Xuan Hong, general manager of Zhongguancun Development Group, said in his speech that small enterprises are the seeds of the capital city's economy. Meanwhile, Yang Nan, chairperson of Zhongguancun Software Park, stated that the plan's objectives are to promote effective growth of relevant industrial chains, strengthen key links in industrial chains and deliver fast services to target enterprises.

When it was his turn to speak, Zhang Jinhui, general manager of Zhongguancun Software Park, introduced specific elements of the 'Z Plan' program, which is expected to support the inclusion of 12 innovation and entrepreneurship programs into the 'Innovation & Entrepreneurship Acceleration Camp' and ensure the participation of 20-plus investment organizations.

Zhang added that recipients of the first-class merit will receive a package of services valued at roughly 1 million yuan. The package will cover discount workplaces, innovation and entrepreneurship mentoring, market platform promotion and public IT platforms.

Zhongguancun Capital Sector and Market-oriented Investment under Zhongguancun Development Group will officially establish a presence in Zhongguancun Software Park Innovation Service Station in an effort to provide high-quality technological and financial services to all enterprises there.