Shanghai's Changning district has launched its series of competitions for the 6th Shanghai Global Talents Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, marking a major step to integrate high-tech talent into its urban innovation ecosystem.

As one of the city's flagship talent events, this year's edition is now open for project submissions through May 31 and continues to welcome global innovators to launch ventures in Shanghai.

The launch ceremony also marked the launch of the "Shanghai Silicon Alley" Innovation Enhancement Action, a program designed to weave high-tech entrepreneurship into the district's urban fabric.

As part of the effort, Changning will host five preliminary rounds covering both domestic and international divisions. To shift toward a market-driven approach, the district has partnered with several professional institutions, including the University of Manchester China Centre, American Universities in China Association, and DoBe. These partners are tasked with mobilizing participants, organizing the competition, and supporting project implementation.

To support these ventures, Changning unveiled the Hongqiao Haichuang Bay Shanghai Silicon Alley Innovation and Entrepreneurship Platform, a new incubator offering a "full-lifecycle" service model designed to provide startups with direct access to capital matchmaking, policy support, technology commercialization, and market expansion. A group of "Super Partners" — comprising professional competition judges, investors, incubator operators, returned overseas entrepreneurs, and previous winners of the competition — has been appointed to provide ongoing support for innovators and entrepreneurs based in Hongqiao Haichuang Bay.

The event also saw the first release of the Changning Embodied Intelligence and Intelligent Agents Industry Map, which outlines a strategic three-tier industrial layout:

I. The Eastern Zone (Silicon Alley): Focuses on "upstream" innovation, specifically AI algorithms, integrated circuit design, and electronic materials.

II. The Central Zone (Hongqiao International Trade Center): Targets high-value applications, integrating AI into cultural tourism and finance.

III. The Western Zone (Linkong Economic Demonstration Zone): Dedicated to hardware manufacturing and overseas expansion headquarters bases, featuring an embodied-intelligence robotics industrial park.

Furthermore, Changning unveiled three key sci-tech innovation spaces: Digital Silicon Alley, Hongqiao Intelligence Zone, and the East Hongqiao Youth Innovation Center. These spaces are expected to accelerate the formation of a borderless innovation district, helping build a complete innovation loop from original technology development to the global market.

Source: WeChat account of Changning district information office of "shchangning"