Inno Way attracting technology startups

While facing challenges due to the COVID-19 outbreak, startup businesses in Beijing's Zhongguancun have shown new vitality, enhancing the area's position as an innovation and entrepreneurship cluster.

Companies in Zhongguancun Inno Way, a main street in the heart of the region featuring startups, sought to adopt new tech applications and new business models as a result of unstable supply chains, a sluggish market and stagnant financing brought on by the pandemic.

Aibee is a high-tech company specializing in artificial intelligence research in Zhongguancun, with 80 percent of its staff involved in technological research and development.

The company utilized AI technology to move shopping malls online as many brick-and-mortar stores' operations were suspended during the pandemic.

Aibee developed a virtual reality shopping platform that allows customers to browse goods remotely. After the digitalization of a mall is complete, the company will continue to use data to support intelligent services, such as accurate recommendations.

As a technological startup, Aibee is less directly affected by the pandemic, but its customers are facing difficulties. At that time, the two sides should cooperate to survive the challenges, said Lin Yuanqing, founder of the company.

A research report on the innovation behaviors of small and medium-sized enterprises in China shows that half of startup founders and executives said COVID-19 hadn't affected their businesses much and some said they saw opportunities. The business models of these companies are mostly focused on internet technologies.

At Zhongguancun Inno Way, there were 25 new company registrations approved per month on average so far this year. The figures are higher than those of 2019, according to the local government.

The street has seen the establishment of 3,841 startups over the past six years. Of them, 1,212 startups have raised capital totaling 77 billion yuan ($11 billion) during that period.

"With an innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem established in the new era, we should absorb research achievements in the world and integrate them with open and inclusive minds," said Nie Lixia, general manager of Zhongguancun Inno Way.

As Zhongguancun is attracting a growing number of international professionals, Inno Way has developed from an innovation service provider for Chinese-funded projects to a hot spot for investment projects from around the world.

Gogiashvili Kaha from Georgia has worked in Zhongguancun Inno Way since 2019. He is proficient in seven languages and helps startup teams from different countries launch projects.

He first came to China in 2015 as an exchange student and was attracted by the creative atmosphere in Zhongguancun. After graduation, he chose to work in the high-tech business hub.

He said Zhongguancun is a real innovation and entrepreneurship center. In the street, the local government provides support for startups in many aspects, such as office space and investment, which allows startups to focus on their projects.

According to the local government, Zhongguancun Inno Way has cooperated with more than 100 innovative agencies from more than 30 countries and regions. It has cooperated with more than 200 international projects and provided business incubation services for more than 100 international projects.

Zhongguancun has incubated 436 foreign and overseas returnee teams and hosted more than 6,300 innovative entrepreneurial activities, including those involving co-organizers from Slovakia, South Korea and Switzerland.

The Zhongguancun administrative committee and relevant departments have released a series of policies and services for high-level foreign professionals, including business registration and intellectual property protection, making Zhongguancun the first choice for global entrepreneurs to start up their business.

In late July, Xu Qiang, director of the Beijing Science and Technology Commission, said Zhongguancun should continue to make efforts to build a world-class science and technology park and innovation highland. The next step of Zhongguancun should be to focus on releasing the innovative vitality of SMEs and transforming resources into productivity.