Photo: 2023 Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship opening ceremony

The 2023 Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair, hosted by the Chengdu Municipal People's Government, officially kicked off on September 20th.

This conference centers on the theme of "Creating and Revitalizing Chengdu City with Intelligence and Building a Strong City," and follows the framework of "1+4+N" to hold the opening ceremony, industrial chain innovation application exhibition, China Capital Innovation (Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province) Summit, Xinglong Lake · Digital Economy Development Forum and Youth Innovation Day activity, the third China Trusted Blockchain Security Attack and Defense Competition, the transformation and docking activity of cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology achievements, and the 2023 Chengdu Big Data Industry Ecological Service Conference, which further include Financial Empowerment, Circle Building, and Chain Strengthening to Help New Industries and Economies "Enter the Capital Market," the 2023 CEO Conference of the Artificial Intelligence Industry, the 2023 National Metaverse Industry Innovation and Development Summit, the Global Industry Investment and Matchmaking Conference, and the 2023 Golden Panda Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. Through the combination of "exhibitions, competitions, and transactions," global innovation and entrepreneurship forces such as experts and scholars, well-known domestic and foreign enterprise executives, innovation teams, investment institutions, and incubation carriers have gathered in Chengdu, showcasing the city’s exploration of technological innovation leading the construction of modern industrial systems.

Zheng Weimin, an academician under the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), Zhang Yan, an academician from the European Academy of Sciences, Zhang Yi, a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering, Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the Economic Policy Committee of the Chinese Policy Science Research Association, and director of the Economic Research Center of the Chinese Euramerican Association, and other experts and scholars attended the opening ceremony.

Famous economist Xu Xiaonian emphasized strengthening basic research as the starting point to provide advice on how to promote innovative development. He stated that basic research is essential for advancing along the development stage of innovation, and innovation needs to be constantly tried and tested by the market to adjust its development direction and technological route until success.

In recent years, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation has accelerated the evolution, and Chengdu has continued to cultivate a soil of "innovation," forming local advantages such as gathering innovation teams, strengthening enterprise entities, optimizing innovation environment, and having a solid industrial foundation. The ability to transform scientific and technological achievements and the comprehensive strength of the city have been continuously improved.

According to data from the Chengdu Municipal Statistics Bureau, the gross domestic product of Chengdu has increased from 108.012 billion yuan in 2015 to 2081.75 billion yuan in 2022, ranking 7th in China and 3rd across sub provincial cities. The city has developed a one-trillion-yuan electronic information industry and eight additional trillion level industrial clusters.

Looking globally, in September 2022, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the 2022 Global Innovation Index (GII). In its "Technology Cluster" Top 100 list, Chengdu ranked 29th globally, making it into the top 30 globally for the first time, advancing 27 places compared to 2018 and achieving the fastest climb. Behind the accelerated rise of the urban innovation index, one can glimpse the efforts and explorations made by this city for innovative development.

It is understood that the "Chengdu Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fair" has been going on for nine years and is an important brand event in the field of innovation in Chengdu. It is also an important window for Chengdu to showcase its innovation environment and entrepreneurial achievements, and an important measure for Chengdu to accelerate the formation of an important growth pole and new driving force for high-quality development in the country. 

The 2023 Innovation Fair not only showcases Chengdu's active exploration of innovation and development over the years, but also highlights Chengdu's vivid practice of building a modern industrial system. (Peng Yan, Ren Xu)