What makes Anhui magnet for entrepreneurship

A script clearly unfolds before the speaker but remains invisible to the audience. This holographic imaging technology was developed by Anhui Easpeed Technology and has achieved industrialization over the past 10 years. 

Just like Easpeed, a growing number of leading companies have flourished in Anhui. What, then, makes Anhui a magnet for entrepreneurship?

Anhui, home to prestigious universities and institutions such as the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, has carried out the empowerment reform of technological achievements.

The empowerment reform refers to the reform of granting researchers ownership or long-term use rights of technological achievements.

USTC has proposed the "empowerment + transfer + agreed income" model, where research teams contribute all intellectual property rights in exchange for shares, with the university holding no stake in the transfer company but retaining future income from the intellectual property.

This model can effectively attract social and venture capital while mitigating associated risks.

Anhui Bingqi Life Technology, dedicated to becoming a leader in low-temperature biological sample storage technology, was founded based on the achievements of Professor Zhao Gang's team from USTC, and is a product of this revolution.

A series of influential startups were nurtured in this way. In 2024, Anhui welcomed over 3,500 new high-tech enterprises, 7,533 small and medium-sized tech enterprises, and 113 specialized and innovative little giant firms, all ranking at the national forefront.

Moreover, Anhui has cultivated its industrial foundation to empower entrepreneurship. Aiming to build world-class new energy vehicle industry clusters, Anhui has attracted new energy vehicle manufacturers such as NIO, Volkswagen Anhui, and BYD.

In addition, Hefei Xinzhan High-tech Industrial Development Zone hosts over 120 display enterprises, including BOE and Visionox, making Hefei China's "No 1 city for new display technology".

Hefei Guoxian's flexible AMOLED production line project. [Photo/WeChat account: gh_da57a4eb9d4e]

In 2022, Anhui started the Anhui Entrepreneurship Initiative and implemented a series of measures to enhance the entrepreneurial environment, with the Grand Union of Innovation (GUi) serving as a test field for reforming systems in science and technology and developing high-tech industries.

Supported by the entrepreneurial platform, Gui has accumulated more than 7,000 tech enterprises and service institutions, with over 70,000 talents from various fields, over the past three years.