The Zhongguancun Boston Innovation Center officially began operations in Boston, the United States, on March 30, marking a large step forward for Zhongguancun in its plan to construct a global innovation system.

The new center comes after Zhongguancun established other centers in Silicon Valley in the US and Germany.

Located on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, the center is in close proximity to many of the world's top research institutions and a large number of hi-tech companies and incubators. It is a five-minute walk to Harvard University and 15 minutes to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The Zhongguancun Boston Innovation Center officially began operatios in Boston, US, on March 30 local time. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The center expects to set up incubators, cross-border offices, large-scale meeting rooms and overseas R&D centers. Four secondary centers featuring bio-medicine, artificial intelligence, and financial technology will also be constructed.

Xuan Hong, general manager of Zhongguancun Development Group, said that the Boston Innovation Center will adopt the successful model of Zhongguancun's Silicon Valley center, gathering high-quality resources and promoting local innovation and entrepreneurship activities.

He added that this is also part of Zhongguancun's effort to build a key hub for their global innovation network as well as an overseas collaborative innovation system for Zhongguancun.

Nam Pham, deputy secretary of the Massachusetts state, delivers a speech to celebrate the opening of the Zhongguancun Boston Innovation Center. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Zhongguancun Development Group and the Zhongguancun Boston Innovation Center signed cooperation agreements with 11 units, including MIT ILP, US-China Health Summit, Harvard China Forum and MIT China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (MIT CHIEF).

Nam Pham, deputy secretary of Massachusetts, said that the center will bring needed innovation to Boston, support local employment and entrepreneurial activities, and supplement its existing innovation system.

Zhongguancun Development Group and the Zhongguancun Boston Innovation Center sign cooperation agreements with 11 units. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]