Hefei builds global bonds through innovation, talent, GUi

On May 20, nine foreign experts from Germany, Canada, Mexico, Singapore, and beyond gathered in the Hefei Government Service Center for the "Friends of Foreign Experts" roundtable - an event filled with warmth, laughter, and sincere dialogue.

The gathering highlighted personal stories that mirror the city's global rise and technological momentum as Hefei's GDP has surged from 416.8 billion yuan ($57.86 billion) in 2012 to 1.35 trillion yuan in 2024.

Now one of six Chinese cities whose R&D intensity surpasses 4 percent, Hefei hosts 13 major science facilities (including those under construction, planned and in feasibility study) and 19 national key laboratories.

Beyond scientific breakthroughs that place the city at the forefront of global science, multinational corporations are also central to this rise. Managers from Volkswagen Anhui and Continental Tires spoke of introducing Germany's dual-education model and building cross-cultural teams. Claus Thomas Weise, a decade-long resident and professor, praised the city's increasingly international infrastructure from education to healthcare.

Weise applauded the living experience in Hefei. "Such progress doesn't happen overnight, it reflects the city's steady efforts toward internationalization," he said.

Viktoriia Saklakova, a foreign scholar from the Hefei Institute of Plasma Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, recalled how an academic internship became a lifelong commitment.

"Massive science facilities aren't just cold steel jungles," Saklakova said, sketching the shape of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak in Hefei, "when I took my daughter to the Hefei Science Museum and saw her standing still in front of the quantum computing model, I suddenly realized what we're doing here is planting seeds for the future."

Daniel David from Hefei University of Technology noted Hefei's accelerating effect of research. The city's innovation ecosystem is anchored by the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and the tech incubator Grand Union of Innovation (GUi).

GUi connects research to industry and supports global entrepreneurs with startup competitions, lab access, and commercialization platforms.

When Lee Ho Young, vice director and chief technical engineer of VD SBU at Seneva Intelligent Machinery Company, expressed his hope that "international talent events in Hefei could go viral just like its sci-tech achievements," the official from the Hefei science and technology bureau recommended GUi as the GUi Park often hosts innovation and entrepreneurship competitions for expats to join with projects.

To deepen its international appeal, Hefei offers robust talent policies - fast-track visas, research grants, international housing, bilingual schools, and cultural exchange platforms.

On the city's basis, GUi supports innovation through funding for startups, R&D platforms, and global partnerships. It offers incentives for tech transfer, talent recruitment, scenario-based applications, and collaboration between large firms and SMEs.

GUi has established a comprehensive support system aimed at fostering high-quality innovation and entrepreneurship in Hefei. It includes annual funding and global engagement, incentives for recruiting global partners, and support for building innovation consortia and public R&D service platforms.

GUi's supportive policy promotes local transformation of scientific achievements, startup incubation with financial backing, and a robust talent policy with housing and workspace support. It also encourages the utilization of idle assets, and situation-based technology applications. GUi also offers financial tools including risk compensation for first-time loans, rent subsidies for venture capital institutions, and rewards for long-term capital investment. Additionally, it establishes a mechanism for recognizing outstanding contributors in areas like tech transfer, talent recruitment, and international cooperation.