The Beijing Innovation and Entrepreneurship Report at the Zhongguancun Forum

Source: Beijing Youth Daily

In springtime Beijing, everything comes to life. The world’s attention on global technological innovation is once again converging on this city of tech innovation.

From March 25 to 29, the Zhongguancun Forum annual meeting will be held. With the annual theme of “deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation,” it will feature five major sections and more than a hundred events.

Since the “14th Five-Year Plan,” Beijing’s development of high-precision, high-value industries has achieved historic breakthroughs, becoming the most vivid footnote to tech-innovation integration.

In this wave of innovation, young people have always been a core force: not only users of R&D achievements in tech innovation, but also driving forces behind innovation in practice.

On the eve of the forum’s opening, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily visited university laboratories, technology companies’ R&D centers, and entrepreneurship incubators, and held in-depth exchanges with dozens of young researchers, founders, and students. They compiled the ten hottest issues drawing the most attention from these groups, and sought answers in the forum’s annual meeting.

Industrial innovation and the underlying strength

Focusing on Beijing’s practice of integrating tech innovation with industry, and addressing young people’s core concerns about the city’s sci-tech development.

Q1

What hard-core support does the “Beijing model” have?

The core theme of this year’s forum, “deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation,” strikes at the central proposition of sci-tech development today—turning technology from “paper achievements” into real power that drives industrial upgrading. Young people are most concerned whether Beijing has already formed a tech-innovation integration “Beijing model” that is replicable and tangible, and what hard-core support backs it.

After sustained deep cultivation, Beijing has charted three distinct integration paths, turning “integration” from an idea into reality. First is the “leading talent + new R&D institution” model. Institutions such as the Zhiyuan Research Institute, the BNSI, and the BKG Institute of Technology break institutional barriers. They focus on frontier research while keeping a close eye on industry needs to promote achievement commercialization, ensuring that the innovative wisdom of leading talents is both highly advanced and deeply implementable. Second is the “city-district-enterprise joint fund” model: making enterprises the “question-askers” for innovation, R&D institutions the “answerers,” and government funds playing a guiding role. By focusing on “bottleneck” problems and carrying out precise R&D, it avoids the “two separate sheets” problem between research and industry at the source. Third is the “demonstration parks + pilot enterprises” model of integration between two sectors. In core areas such as Yizhuang and Haidian, advanced manufacturing and modern services are deeply coupled, forming a virtuous cycle of “manufacturing empowering services, services in turn enabling manufacturing,” and nurturing new quality productive forces.

Q2

How will the “first city for artificial intelligence” be implemented?

“Beijing is the first city for artificial intelligence” has become an industry consensus. Young people care that this “first” is not only supported by data, but also must deliver visible and tangible achievements and applications. In 2025, Beijing’s AI industry development has leapt to a higher level, with three key core indicators remaining number one nationwide, laying a solid foundation of hard-core strength.

According to data from the Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry White Paper (2025), the city’s AI core industry scale is expected to exceed 4.5 trillion yuan. In just the first half of the year alone, it attracted more than 2,500 AI companies, filed 183 record-setting large models, with both quantity and quality leading nationwide. More importantly, Beijing is producing a large number of frontier achievements that are “originally developed in Beijing.” FlagOS released by the Zhiyuan Research Institute realizes “chiplet-module synergy” in a vertically integrated manner, improving the compatibility between large models and chip hardware. “Tongtong 2.0” from the Beijing Academy for General Artificial Intelligence completes the leap from theoretical innovation to capability validation, laying groundwork for general AI. The Bohr scientific research space station of the Beijing Institute of Science and Intelligent Systems has become the world’s first AI research platform covering the full workflow of “reading literature—doing computation—doing experiments—multi-disciplinary collaboration.” Benchmark large models such as Doubao, Wenxin Yiyan, GLM, Kimi, and others perform excellently in internationally authoritative evaluations, and some achievements reach international top-tier levels—helping Beijing firmly remain in the global first tier of artificial intelligence.

The value of hard-core technology ultimately shows up in industrial applications and everyday life scenarios. In Beijing, AI is empowering every sector through “AI+”: Zhipu AI blends the warmth of Beijing’s hutongs with technology; video large models are reshaping human-computer interaction experiences; on the Spring Festival Gala stage, robots deliver outstanding performances thanks to flexible motion control technology. From intelligent industrial production and more refined urban governance to assisted medical diagnostics and personalized education and teaching, AI application scenarios keep expanding, achieving a key leap from technological breakthroughs to enabling all factors.

Youth growth and achievement commercialization

Focusing on support for young talent, loosening constraints on researchers, and transforming sci-tech achievements into productive forces, to respond to young people’s core needs for growth and innovation practice.

Q3

What innovations exist in support for young talent?

For young researchers and entrepreneurs, besides material assurances like “money” and “housing,” institutional-level innovation makes it possible for them to dare to imagine, dare to act, and focus on research. While Beijing increases material support, it has rolled out a series of pioneering “breakthrough” institutional measures to release young people’s innovation vitality.

In 2026, Beijing will provide 1 million square meters of entrepreneurship space and raise 10,000 units of young talent apartments to address young people’s worries about their future. The Haidian District will tailor the “Haiying Talent” and “薪火共燃” plans, providing selected “Haiying Talent” with up to 1 million yuan in funding, as well as full-dimensional support including housing and household registration. More profoundly, the mechanism design: the Beijing Natural Science Foundation was the first in the country to launch non-consensus innovation programs, with key support for innovative and subversive research, so that young researchers dare to step out of their “comfort zone” to explore the unknown. In 2024, among the 93 leaders of non-consensus innovation programs, the proportion of young people exceeded three-quarters; the youngest was only 27 years old. Among all project leaders funded by the city’s Natural Science Foundation, the proportion of young people under 45 reached 81.7%. Young people have become the main force behind basic research and frontier innovation.

Beijing also innovatively introduced support policies for “quasi-research talent,” moving the training entry point forward. The undergraduate “Qi Yan” program enables young students to become “active implementers” rather than mere “assistants” in research, truly bringing them into the national innovation system.

Q4

What measures are there to “loosen” constraints on researchers?

Institutional and mechanism constraints have long been “obstacles” to transforming research achievements into productive forces. Many researchers are reluctant to commercialize achievements for fear that “decision mistakes may lead to accountability,” and also lack motivation due to issues related to ownership. Beijing uses a combination of “accountability exemptions for due diligence” and “delegation-of-authority reforms,” providing backing for researchers at the institutional level, and stimulating innovation and commercialization vitality.

On the one hand, Beijing improves the accountability-exemption mechanism for due diligence in the transfer and commercialization of sci-tech achievements at universities and research institutes. It clarifies responsibility boundaries. Researchers carry out commercialization work according to regulations, and even if decision mistakes occur, they will not be held accountable—fully removing their worries, so that researchers dare to bring lab results to the market. On the other hand, it promotes reforms to grant authority over job-related sci-tech achievements and implements separate management for assets. This gives researchers either ownership or long-term usage rights, turning researchers into the direct beneficiaries of commercialization. That changes the mindset from “you want me to commercialize” to “I want to commercialize,” forming endogenous motivation.

The effectiveness of this combination of measures has already been fully demonstrated. Shen Jie, a distinguished professor at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is one beneficiary. Her team focuses on quantum devices and low-temperature physics. Some patents have already been applied in the Huairou Science City, while the vast majority of results have been produced with support from Beijing’s “Science and Technology Star” program and key projects under the Youth Science Foundation. Shen Jie said that it is precisely Beijing’s “loosened” policies and funding support that allow the team to devote themselves to research deeply, while also daring to push achievements to the front line of industrialization.

Q5

How to build a bridge for achievement commercialization?

The “death valley” from research achievements in laboratories to the market is the biggest headache for young researchers and entrepreneurs. Beijing, through systematic measures, builds a full-chain commercialization system from policy, platforms, and talent—laying multiple bridges so that achievements can cross the “death valley.”

In November 2025, Beijing released the Action Plan for Promoting the Localization of Sci-Tech Achievement Commercialization (2025–2027), clarifying efforts to strengthen the linkage between the Zhongguancun International Technology Trading Center and Beijing’s intelligent service platform for tech achievement commercialization, so that commercialization can follow policy guidance and rely on platforms. The first bridge is strengthening the technical manager workforce known as “Zhuque Talent.” These composite talents understand R&D, markets, and law, becoming the “matchmakers” for achievement commercialization. The intelligent service platform “ZhuanguoGuo” builds a “home for technical managers” and, through an “online + offline” coordination model, breaks information barriers between research and the market.

The second bridge is arranging concept validation and pilot-testing (middle trial) platforms, so achievements can first “test the waters” before going all in. Beijing plans to establish more than 10 related platforms to provide services such as technical validation and process optimization, lowering industrialization risks. Haidian is accelerating the construction of concept validation centers and university technology transfer and commercialization centers, deepening “preemptive incubation” services so that achievements can enter the market only after technical and product refinement.

The third bridge is the full-process services provided by the “ZhuanguoGuo” platform. The platform went live in March 2025, building five major resource pools such as an achievements database and a needs database. It currently aggregates 18,000 achievements and more than 40,000 science and technology talent, and connects 1,157 professional service institutions. “XiaoguoAI,” developed using AI large models, can create precise representations of supply-demand information and perform intelligent matching, fundamentally solving the bottleneck of “achievements can’t find the market, and enterprises can’t find the technology.” As of now, the platform has completed more than 4,700 supply-demand matching sessions, helped 437 achievements land successfully, and established 123 spin-off companies. Beijing plans that by 2027 it will basically form an efficient achievement commercialization system, incubating 3,000 technology-based enterprises and 600 specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative enterprises—so that more achievements become new drivers for high-quality development.

Future tracks and global positioning

Focusing on capital support, opportunities arising from the integration of the two sectors, overseas service for enterprises, and Beijing’s global innovation positioning, to provide young people with comprehensive references for development.

Q6

How will young entrepreneurs’ projects be supported?

Given that the current investment environment is somewhat cautious, “invest early, invest small, and invest in hard tech” has become a core demand for sci-tech innovation development. Early-stage funding support is also crucial for young entrepreneurship projects to survive and proceed. Beijing’s core approach is to leverage the government’s funds to play a counter-cyclical调节 role, mobilizing social capital to increase investment in science-and-technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, forming a diversified investment and financing ecosystem.

On the one hand, improve the science and technology finance service system to address the financing difficulties faced by light-asset sci-tech enterprises. Beijing promotes characteristic products such as “specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative loans,” “R&D loans,” and “financing secured by intellectual property pledges.” It encourages financial institutions to break away from a collateral-centric mindset, increase the issuance of credit loans, and turn technology and patents into “hard currency” for financing—so that financing needs of small and medium-sized enterprises are met precisely.

On the other hand, promote deep cooperation between government funds and social capital, and build a full-chain investment matrix. Beijing promotes docking between each district and national-level funds, supporting newly formed sub-funds focused on early-stage hard-tech projects. Haidian District invests 5 billion yuan in fiscal funds every year, laying out innovation across the full chain, and also releases three rounds of a total of 20 billion yuan in the Zhongguancun Science City Science and Technology Growth Fund, building an investment matrix that covers science and technology enterprises from seed stage to maturity stage—so that tech enterprises at different development stages can receive funding support.

Q7

What new opportunities does the integration of the two sectors bring?

The integrated development of advanced manufacturing and modern services is an important carrier for Beijing to cultivate new quality productive forces, and it is also a new opportunity for young people’s career development. This integration brings young people multidimensional space for development, becoming a new hotspot for employment and entrepreneurship.

First, the integration of the two sectors generates large numbers of new professions and new roles, broadening career choices. As the integration unfolds, boundaries among traditional jobs are breaking down. New professions such as industrial internet engineers, digital twin designers, and cultural-technology creative artists are continuously emerging. These roles require both specialized technical skills and a mindset for cross-domain integration, which highly matches the knowledge structure and capability characteristics of today’s young people.

Second, key areas of the integration of the two sectors become new entrepreneurship tracks for young people. Beijing made it clear as early as 2023 that there are eight key areas of focus, including the integration of the new generation of information technology with manufacturing services and the integration of pharmaceutical manufacturing with health services. Relying on Beijing’s industrial strengths and sci-tech innovation foundation, these areas have a well-developed ecosystem, rich scenarios, and sufficient policy support—providing excellent soil for young entrepreneurship. For example, in the intelligent connected vehicles sector, from R&D and manufacturing to vehicle-to-road collaboration and smart mobility, the integration across the whole industry chain generates numerous entrepreneurial opportunities.

Moreover, the pilot demonstration system for integrating the two sectors provides a practical growth platform for young people. As of June 2025, Beijing has identified 8 city-level demonstration parks and 67 pilot enterprises. The second batch includes 32 pilot enterprises covering 7 key areas. These platforms not only provide jobs, but also allow young people to participate in practical industry-integration projects, improving their comprehensive abilities in project R&D and market operations. The “Beijing model” for the integration of the two sectors, with ten typical cases released by the Zhongguancun Industry Research Institute, also provides innovative samples that young entrepreneurs can learn from. A related official from the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission said Beijing will accelerate the building of a “10 parks and 100 enterprises” development pattern, and in the future there will be more integrated scenarios, bringing more opportunities for young people.

Q8

How will new future industry tracks be laid out?

Beyond AI large models, future industries such as embodied intelligence and commercial space are becoming new focal points for young people. These fields not only concern the city’s industrial competitiveness, but also determine young people’s career and entrepreneurship directions. In its layout of future industries, Beijing has already formed distinct characteristics and phased achievements.

In commercial space, Beijing has built a development pattern of “South Arrow and North Star,” becoming a national core hub. The world’s first liquid oxygen-methane rocket, “Zhuque-2,” successfully reached orbit, indicating that Beijing’s commercial rocket R&D and manufacturing has reached an internationally advanced level. Currently, Beijing has formed a full industry chain ecosystem covering satellite development, ground equipment, satellite tracking and control, and “communication, navigation, and remote sensing (computation and telemetry)” applications. The number of leading companies accounts for nearly 20% nationwide, highlighting strong industrial clustering effects.

In the embodied intelligence sector, Beijing’s development pace is rapid. In 2025, it issued the “Action Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation and Industrial Development of Embodied Intelligence in Beijing,” promoting robots to move from “information processing” to “physical tasks.” Across the city, nearly 200 types of innovative robot products have already been deployed in more than 130 types of scenarios. From factory industrial robots and supermarket service robots to agricultural plant-protection robots and household companion robots, embodied intelligence is accelerating into production and daily life.

As the core carrier zone for Beijing’s future industries, Haidian District was rated as Beijing’s future industry pioneer zone, establishing the “one main and two supporting” tracks—future information as the main focus, with coordinated development of future manufacturing and future health. The number of embodied intelligence companies in the district accounts for 40% of the city total. Centered on the Zhongguancun (Haidian) Embodied Intelligence Innovation Industrial Park, it builds a globally competitive hub for industrial clustering. At the same time, it continues to push forward in frontier directions such as quantum information and 6G. In addition, innovation platforms such as “Northern Latitude Community” and “MoShu World” have been established, with an increasingly complete incubation system, providing end-to-end support from R&D to commercialization for young entrepreneurs.

Q9

What “jump boards” do enterprises have for “going overseas”?

“Going overseas” has become a choice for an increasing number of tech companies. Young entrepreneurs and employees are also the core force behind enterprises’ overseas expansion. They care whether Beijing can build a professional “jump board” for companies and provide end-to-end support for going global. Beijing’s answer is to build an end-to-end, all-round overseas service system, so that Beijing becomes a “bridgehead” for tech companies to expand overseas.

Beijing optimizes the “One Belt, One Road” direct express platform, improves a service network of “within Beijing + overseas,” and encourages small and medium-sized enterprises to go overseas in groups, while enterprises from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region coordinate overseas expansion. It integrates resources to reduce overseas expansion risks and leverages regional industrial complementary advantages. At the same time, it sets up dedicated overseas service carriers to provide precise support for companies in specific fields. The first batch of the “Zhongguancun Artificial Intelligence Enterprises Overseas Service Ports” focuses on the AI field, offering services such as market research and channel matchmaking. The “Beijing Digital Economy Enterprises Overseas Innovation Service Base,” unveiled in July 2024, builds an empowerment platform with “government guidance, market operation, and one-stop services,” becoming a core support for digital economy enterprises going overseas.

Over the past year and more, the base has achieved significant results. It has built a service network covering 29 countries, established 6 overseas service stations, connected with 13 Chinese embassies, held nearly 100 overseas-expansion events, reached nearly 4,000 companies, facilitated more than 20 enterprises to land overseas, and累计 achieved international orders of nearly 1 billion yuan. In December 2025, Beijing released a three-year action plan for the base. It proposes that by 2028, a comprehensive service system will be fully built, with 20 overseas service stations deployed, to serve 100 enterprises in obtaining overseas orders, and to help 30 “Beijing solutions” land overseas, striving to create a national-level “Digital Silk Road” economic cooperation pilot zone. In addition, the China–SCO AI application cooperation center and the Zhongguancun autonomous large model industry alliance build international cooperation bridges for enterprises to go overseas, helping Beijing’s technology better integrate into the global innovation network.

Q10

What is Beijing’s position in the global innovation map?

With the successful conclusion of the “14th Five-Year Plan,” the “15th Five-Year Plan” is about to begin. Beijing’s position in the global innovation map is a focus of worldwide attention, and also a source of pride and expectations among Beijing youth. The answer is hidden in a series of impressive data: Beijing has become a key hub in the global innovation network, firmly staying in the global top tier of innovation.

From the perspective of research cities, Beijing has topped the global list of the Nature Index—Research Cities consecutively for eight years. In the adjusted shares for 2023–2024, it remains number one worldwide. The world-leading output capacity and influence of natural science research are unmatched. From the perspective of international science and technology innovation centers, the International Science and Technology Innovation Center Index 2025 shows that Beijing scored 85.19, ranking among the global top three for four consecutive years, and it topped the world for the first time in the science center dimension, with its comprehensive strength receiving high international recognition.

From the perspective of industrial scale, during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, Beijing has cumulatively promoted the landing of 1,105 key projects for building international science and technology innovation centers. It has formed two trillion-level industry clusters: the new generation of information technology and the science and technology services industry, as well as seven trillion-level clusters such as artificial intelligence. High-end and high-precision industries have become a core economic support. From the perspective of enterprise cultivation, Beijing’s unicorn count has ranked third globally for four consecutive years. It has broken 2 million small and medium-sized enterprises, including 11,062 specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises, and 1,035 national-level “little giants,” placing it at the forefront nationwide. In the Global Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Report 2025, Beijing ranks first in Asia and among the global top ranks. From the perspective of R&D investment, Beijing’s R&D expenditure intensity remains around 6%, placing it among the top innovation cities globally. The share of R&D expenditure in scale-above manufacturing ranks top three nationwide. In the information software industry, the number of effective invention patents per 10,000 people has grown by nearly one time compared with 2020, highlighting the prominent position of enterprises as innovation subjects.

By / Zhang Xin, reporter of this paper

Overall coordination / Yu Meiying Photos / Yuan Yi, reporter of this paper

责任编辑：Liu Yan (EN004)

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