Sci-tech innovation conference aims to galvanize Hefei city

An innovation conference was held at the University of Science and Technology of China's Science and Technology Business College in Hefei – capital of East China's Anhui province – on Dec 20.

It was organized by the local tech hub the Grand Union of Innovation, also known as GUI.

At the event, six sub-funds of the GUI guiding fund – with a total scale of over 2 billion yuan ($280 million) – signed contracts. These covered investments in early-stage, small-scale and high-tech startups in new energy, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and biomedicines, among others.

The conference also released two lists – an opportunities list and a capabilities list. The first included 30 opportunities that are open for technology innovators to test and apply their solutions. The second list included 30 solutions that showcased the capabilities and outcomes of innovators.

In addition, the USTC Science and Technology Business College launched a Summit Plan. This is to help cultivate talent at sci-tech innovation companies that understand science and technology, industry, capital, markets and management.

The conference invited several experts and investors to share their insights and suggestions on how to enhance the sci-tech innovation and industrialization of Hefei and beyond.

Ni Zewang, chairman of the Shenzhen Capital Group, said that universities and research institutes had the advantage of sci-tech innovation, but the conversion rate of their achievements was still low.

He urged universities to offer more entrepreneurship courses, establish alumni foundations and connect their research results with investment institutions and alumni capital.

Ding Zengzhang, deputy general manager of the Hefei Industry Investment Group, said that industrial capital was essential for the growth of technology enterprises and the development of industrial innovation.

Investment should follow the direction of the industry's development needs and growth, he added.

Hu Langtao, founding partner of Sino-US Venture Capital, said that he was very optimistic about the future of Hefei's sci-tech economy.

As a result, he planned to set up an angel fund focusing on artificial intelligence – to help some great businesses from the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta regions to settle in the Grand Union of Innovation.