Shenzhen committed to becoming global startups capital

Shenzhen deputy mayor, Chen Biao, is making a speech.

"Startup Weekend", a large innovation and entrepreneurship roadshow, was held in the Camellia Hall of Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center on the evening of Nov 16. Attracting more than 600 would-be entrepreneurs from all over the world, this activity was co-hosted by Invest Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Startup Weekend and Nanshan district government.

Shenzhen's deputy mayor Chen Biao gave a speech, in which he said that in the Internet era, "grass-roots innovation" or "innovation by the entire people" has become a new trend. Shenzhen is committed to becoming the capital of global startups. At present, there is already a batch of excellent entrepreneurs and entrepreneur platforms in Shenzhen working to expand new space for small and micro businesses, entrepreneurs from home and abroad and young students.

The roadshow showcased 20 innovation and entrepreneurship items in the form of a contest, covering various fields including the Internet, intelligent robots and 3D printing. All of the items were finished within 48 hours by entrepreneurs who teamed up with congenial contestants, and whose contents ranged broadly from inventions with simple technologies to innovations with high technology content.

Meanwhile, a strong group of mentors, comprising experts, scholars and investors, were invited to be judges; they gave practical advice concerning innovation, execution, fund-raising and selling participating items so as to accelerate growth of the entrepreneur team.

The Roadshow contest

Shenzhen was born during the reform and thrived on innovation. After 30-odd years of accumulation, Shenzhen's hardware field has developed into a format which concentrates science and technology, capital, information and skills, and both the upstream and downstream industrial chains have been improved gradually. The hardware manufacturing field not only gathers world giants like Huawei, ZTE and Foxconn, but also has trading platforms like Huaqiangbei which act as market connection points for entrepreneurs.

Moreover, Shenzhen leads the world in fields such as startup investment, industry-university-research cooperation and startup incubation. In 2013, Shenzhen's investment in research and development amounted to 4 percent of its GDP, while the figure in Nanshan district reached 5.6 percent. Internationally, the acknowledged standard of an innovative economic entity is around 2.5 percent.

With respect to innovation and entrepreneurship, Shenzhen has so far launched a series of measures which gives support to Maker with policy, capital, skills guarantees and so forth in order to forge a city of startups. By doing so, the city hopes to grip the pulse of the third industrial revolution and create a new "Shenzhen Miracle".

Following the "Startup Weekend", there will be Shenzhen international entrepreneur activities lasting a whole week, including the signing and establishment of an "Entrepreneur School", a display of innovations by entrepreneurs, and roadshows. This series of activities indicates that Shenzhen has become a promising destination for entrepreneurs around the world, and its position as a capital for global entrepreneurs and a capital of innovation is becoming more and more obvious to all.