The year 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of Shanghai's construction of an international science and technology innovation center.

The city has increased investment in fundamental research, with 158 papers published in prestigious journals such as Science, Nature, and Cell last year. Shanghai now ranks among the leading cities with 67 gazelle companies.

Looking ahead, Shanghai aims to further enhance its innovation capabilities in 2025, seeking to foster breakthroughs and drive the commercialization of research achievements.

Strengthening scientific research

A newly developed multi-enzyme assembling tool by Associate Professor Ni Jun's team at Shanghai Jiao Tong University has gained global attention.

Ni's team has spent nearly a decade in this cutting-edge field. Based on the team's research published in Cell, the tool solves the long-standing challenges posed by the lack of standards in multi-enzyme assembly and accelerates biomanufacturing.

Shanghai scientists have also made significant contributions to global medical research. Of the 12 high-impact research papers published in Cell in 2024, two-thirds were led by Chinese teams, including three from Shanghai.

To boost innovation, Shanghai is set to enhance its laboratory system, foster the growth of new research institutions, and advance the development of foundational research pilot zones.

Driving reform in scientific commercialization

"After the university granted full ownership of the intellectual property to our team, the humanoid robot developed by our company began progressing rapidly," said Li Qingdu, a professor at University of Shanghai for Science and Technology and founder of Droid Robot.

He said that the full ownership reform clarifies intellectual property rights and allows for long-term partnerships between universities and enterprises.

In 2023, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, along with six other departments, issued the Implementation Plan of Shanghai Municipality for the Pilot Innovation and Reform of Scientific and Technological Advancement Commercialization.

The plan outlines a structured framework of "full ownership + transfer + agreement". A total of 39 universities, research institutes, and medical institutions participated in the pilot program.

Since the implementation of the plan, 215 research achievements have been commercialized, including 83 full ownership grants. The total transaction value has reached 1.118 billion yuan ($154.31 million), supporting 153 researchers in launching their businesses or bringing companies into compliance. These ventures have attracted over 6.8 billion yuan in investment.

Shanghai plans to roll out a reform plan for its science and technology program management this year, aiming to build a well-structured, clearly defined, and flexible management system.

Enhancing the startup ecosystem

The final of the "Startup in Shanghai" International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was held on Feb 26. Sixteen leading enterprises stood out from more than 10,000 startup projects.

The competition plays a crucial role in promoting the innovative development of small and medium-sized sci-tech enterprises.

According to statistics from the Shanghai Technology Innovation Center, from 2021 to 2023, winning companies secured a total of 24.7 billion yuan in investments.

Among them, next-generation IT enterprises attracted 11.3 billion yuan, while biopharmaceutical firms raised 10.4 billion yuan, with an average of 5.08 million yuan per company.

To accelerate the industrialization of technological achievements, Shanghai has launched a 10-billion-yuan industrial fund to support the development of future-oriented industries.

Additionally, the city has been hosting the Global Entrepreneurial Investment Conference (WeStart) for several years to enhance financial support for technological innovation.

Source: Xinhua