Franklin Urteage delivers a speech at the 2017 Zhongguancun Forum on Dec 7. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Franklin Urteage, former innovation advisor of the White House, pointed to the necessity of fostering innovation and affirmed the rapid growth of China's technology on the 2017 Zhongguancun Forum on Dec 7.

He mentioned that the number of Chinese unicorn companies grew from zero to 36 percent of the world’s total from 2013 to 2017, which is a remarkable speed.

"China now is becoming a leader in innovative culture," he stressed. "Innovation is doing something better in a new way and that's what China all about."

In addition, he suggested that government bodies play an important role in encouraging this kind of growth.

"More unicorns, more sharity economy companies, is a result of the leadership of government's supporting." he said, adding that “for Zhongguancun, its government body is very necessary."

Commenting on Zhongguancun's contribution to China's innovation programs, Urteage said "It’s very significant because Zhongguancun, in the last ten years, has created more programs, has created more activity."

At the opening ceremony of the Forum, Yin Hejun, deputy mayor of Beijing, mentioned that Zhongguancun, with about 500 colleges and national scientific research institutions and R&D centers of more than 300 multinational companies, is the cradle of China's technology and innovation.

"About 42.9 percent of intelligent entrepreneurial enterprises in China were born here," Yin said.

"Zhongguancun will connect into the global innovation network and integrate advanced international resources to build itself into a more influential global technology center."

To promote the artificial intelligent industry and cultivate a competitive and innovation-oriented AI industrial cluster, the Administrative Committee of Zhongguancun made a plan which specifies goals, instructions and missions for its AI companies and explains what support the administration will offer.

So far, more than 30,000 overseas returnee entrepreneurs have established over 8,000 enterprises in Zhongguancun Park, giving it the highest concentration of returnee-opened companies.