Empowering innovation: Unique model of GUi

Why it matters: Beyond Hefei

GUi's defining features carry significant implications for enhancing national competitiveness, nurturing tech entrepreneurs, and driving urban growth.

1. New engine for strengthening national competitiveness

Technological innovation is central to national competitiveness, shaping the flow of global resources and economic growth, especially the original innovation.

As one scholar from Renmin University of China once observed, past progress in manufacturing and consumer technologies was largely market-driven and built on global market access. However, true national competitiveness depends on indigenous original innovation rather than incremental advances built on others' foundations. 

Enhancing original innovation capacity requires accelerating the transition of frontier theories and technologies from laboratories to industry and real-world applications.

At GUi, many entrepreneurs come from institutions such as the USTC. Through targeted startup support and integrated industry-academia-research policies, GUi channels dormant original innovations into the market via professional evaluation and commercialization mechanisms.

In this sense, GUi serves as a powerful engine for strengthening China's core competitiveness and addressing key technological bottlenecks.

2. Cradle for 'future entrepreneurs'

The "future entrepreneurs" are not only aspiring business leaders, but also researchers working in frontier fields, such as quantum technology, bio-manufacturing, hydrogen and fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and sixth-generation communications.

For these researchers, success as entrepreneurs requires more than space and funding; it demands a dense innovation ecosystem. This includes strong research resources, nearby complementary firms, and frequent interdisciplinary interactions to spark new ideas.

With more than 7,000 technology enterprises and innovation service organizations, GUi offers an environment where a single building can function as an innovation consortium or an entire industrial chain.

Combined with Hefei's robust research base and GUi's full-lifecycle support model, the platform is well-positioned to become a breeding ground for future entrepreneurs and a demonstration zone for next-generation industries.

3. 'Secret weapon' for city growth

Industry forms the backbone of urban development and economic resilience. As technological innovation becomes a primary driver of urban transformation and talent attraction, many cities have chosen to prioritize the growth of innovation-driven industries.

Yet this process often leads to destructive competition, with cities attempting to lure mature firms away from one another through short-term incentives.

GUi offers an alternative path. From the moment a technology enterprise is born, it demonstrates long-term commitment by providing comprehensive, patient support, allowing companies to grow organically from Hefei's innovation soil.

This approach builds an emotional bond between entrepreneurs, GUi, and the city itself — one that cannot be easily broken by external incentives.

This bond was evident in the story of Yang, whose company recently moved into a new office space in the Shushan district, close to the laboratories and dormitories of his student years — places intertwined with his entrepreneurial journey.

Such connections underscore a deeper truth: when innovation is nurtured with sincerity and continuity, it takes root. Only by cultivating its own innovation seeds with care can a city grow a thriving, resilient ecosystem. GUi is cultivating a self-sustaining and thriving tech landscape for the future.