The 2023 "Pudong Innovation" Overseas Returnees Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition and 895 Stars Roadshow kicked off at the Zhangjiang Science City in Shanghai's Pudong New Area on May 16, bringing together 400 companies and over 200 overseas young entrepreneurs.

Themed "Pudong Innovation, Striving for the Future," the competition aims to cultivate a group of innovative enterprises that can support Pudong’s ambition to become a key driver of socialist modernization.

The event saw the official launch of the "Pudong Innovation" brand and the Pudong Innovation Investment Joint Mechanism that will help the area establish an international, diversified and efficient platform to offer investment and financing services for returning overseas entrepreneurs.

Fang Jiansen, deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, said that Pudong highly values overseas returnees, which he described as a key driver of innovation and entrepreneurship.

All founders of the participating enterprises have spent time overseas, and more than half of them hold doctoral degrees. Most of them specialize in industries such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, aviation, aerospace and the future automobiles.

Zhang Feng, a member of the standing committee of the CPC Pudong committee, stated that Pudong is striving to build a leading area for socialist modernization and will continue to leverage its institutional advantages to support returned talents, especially young innovators and entrepreneurs.  

More than 80 companies were shortlisted for the competition. Only eight companies made it to the roadshow stage.  

During the competition, Jiang Jun, co-founder of Shanghai TCab Technology Co Ltd, showcased the company’s "air taxi", a manned flying vehicle that has a cruising speed of nearly 260 kilometers per hour as well as vertical take-off and landing capabilities.

"This vehicle doesn't need a runway and the noise generated by pure electric power is only about 30 decibels," said Jiang. "The cost is about 250 yuan ($35.17) per person per 100 km. We expect our product to achieve commercialization in 2026.”

TCab Tech was conferred the Science and Technology Innovation Star award, while Seetrum and Gubo Technologies won the Most Innovative Enterprise award. Companies including XinpleTek, Nullmax and Linyan won the Most Promising Enterprise award. Thirteen companies received the Outstanding Achievement Award.

"Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, which has more than 70,000 square meters of incubation space, empowers scientific and technological innovation companies in a holistic manner through the creation of the 895 Entrepreneurship Camp," said He Dajun, vice-chairman and general manager of the park.

"By providing full-chain services, we have created a fertile ground for talents and innovative companies," he said.  

"The innovation and entrepreneurship platform created in Zhangjiang has allowed our projects and technologies to be seen more quickly and widely by investors and customers," said Wang Yu, CEO of Seetrum, which specializes in spectral chips, AI algorithms and intelligent perception solutions.

The park authorities said they will continue to build key platforms, implement favorable policies, strengthen talent training, improve financial support, match innovative enterprises with precise services, and optimize the business environment of Pudong.