Building a Global Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

THE HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit（GES） is an international stage onwhich entrepreneurs from all over theworld showcase their superior products，new projects， and entrepreneurial capabilities.

The 2024 summit in Beijing attracted over30，000 sci-tech innovators， 1，000 global investors，and 500 high-tech innovation enterprisesfrom 100 countries and regions around theworld. Its Global Entrepreneurship Competition（GEC） attracted a record-breaking number of7，406 startup projects and 9，700 entrepreneursfrom 124 countries and regions.

Its headquarters in Beijing’s eastern districtof Shunyi has also developed from a singlebuilding into a 6.98-square-kilometer industrialpark， and attracts international entrepreneursto Beijing as a result.

According to Wu Yi， vice chairman and secretarygeneral of the Beijing Overseas TalentsAssociation， “HICOOL’s long-term mission isto nurture entrepreneurs.” This year marks thefifth year of HICOOL exploring ways of providingentrepreneurs with comprehensive and indepthservices in areas of government support，industry， academics， research， capital， andpractice.

Exploring New Paradigms

During the summit this year， more than 40keynote speeches were presented and miniforumsand dialogue sessions were conductedaround the four themes of future-oriented， newquality life， multi-dimensional creativity， andbetter life. Focusing on cutting-edge trends suchas artificial intelligence， quantum computing，brain-computer interface， data governance， andglobal health and development， experts fromvarious fields explored topics of global innovationecology and strategic vision.

Xi Ning， chair professor of robotics andautomation in the Department of Industrialand Manufacturing System at the University ofHong Kong， spoke about a promising future ofhumans and machines working together. PeterVesterbacka， founder of Angry Birds， exploredthe value of innovation.

In addition， a number of stunning cuttingedgetechnological achievements were unveiled，such as a model of China’s reusable rocket Pallas1 and a robotherapist that can automaticallyidentify acupuncture points.

“The unmanned aerial vehicle autonomousdriving system we developed has the functionsof accurately avoiding obstacles and automaticroute planning， which solves the pain points ofcontrolling drones in complex environments. Itcan be used in low-altitude logistics， emergencyrescues， and other fields，” said Che Jiaxing，founder of Youlian Zhikong （Beijing） TechnologyCo.， Ltd.

“There were more than 10 new energy， newmaterials， and high-end equipment startupcompanies competing together. We won thesecond prize in this year’s GEC after fierce com-petition，” said Che， and then added， “As soon asthe roadshow ended， many companies came todiscuss prospects of cooperating with us.”

A bionic soft-arm robot gripping a ping-pongball with ease was exhibited in the display area.“It can also remove the yolk from a raw egg，”said Zhao Xin， founder of Beijing Soft RobotTechnology Co.， Ltd. He said that his teamstrives to solve technical difficulties such ashigh-elastic material modification and complexflexible body molding. It has become an innovativetechnology enterprise that has brokenthrough key technologies of the whole chain ofsoft robot production， education， and researchin China.

“We won the first prize in the GEC threeyears ago. Today， the company’s products areexported to more than 20 countries，” Zhao said.He noticed an increase in the number of newachievements in future industries such as artificialintelligence， unmanned driving， and themetaverse at this year’s summit.

“The first GES and GEC were launched in2020. Over the past five years， innovation andentrepreneurship has grown vigorously andmade tremendous accomplishments，” ZhangRuobing， head of the Beijing Municipal TalentWork Bureau， said. So far， the GEC has givenbirth to 720 award-winning projects， and incubated16 unicorn enterprises and 127 enterprisesthat use special and sophisticated technologiesto produce novel and unique products.

Transforming Beijing

As HICOOL continues to grow with the participationof more entrepreneurs， it is contributingto turning Beijing into an internationalscience and technology innovation center aswell as a high-level talent hub. At the sametime， it is injecting new vitality and innovationmomentum into the global economy.

At the opening ceremony of HICOOL 2024GES and GEC Awards on August 23， about 200winners were awarded. “Beijing has the best humanresources and scientific research ecology，and attracts investors， scientific manpower，biomedical enterprises， laboratories， and otherresources. More importantly， Beijing welcomesentrepreneurs！” said Li Dong， founder of BeijingNano Insights Optoelectronics Technology Co.，Ltd. His team’s project “Intelligent optical microscopyinstruments and whole-process solutions”won the first prize this year.

Guan Hongliang， chairman of the BeijingOverseas Talents Association， believes thereason GEC continues to improve is that thegovernment and entrepreneurs are workingtogether to reach this objective. “The governmentneeds good projects and talent to driveeconomic growth. At the same time， entrepreneursneed all kinds of help and support fromthe government， while getting in touch with themarket and more investors.”

During the past five years， HICOOL has attracted16，765 projects from 133 countries andregions around the world， matched more than8，000 projects， served more than 4，000 innovationprojects， and implemented more than 290entrepreneurial projects in Beijing.

Empowering entrepreneurship with scienceand technology and driving innovation withvalue， HICOOL helps entrepreneurs and startupsdevelop in Beijing by providing multi-dimensionaland international entrepreneurshipservices， management， and fund， and setting upcompetitions， summits， a business school， anindustrial park， and digital platforms.

“For us， the GEC is a springboard to help usoperate in Beijing. It gives us access to the topbusiness incubators and various kinds of supportfrom the government. The GEC is actuallyan entrepreneurial service platform，” said LaiCaida， founder of Hangzhou METiS Pharmaceuticals，who won the first prize at the 2022HICOOL GEC.

At this year’s GES， HICOOL organized sixsections， 20 small forums， and eight roadshowsto present the “government support， industry，academics， research， capital， and practice” inone stop， and build a highly integrated entrepreneurialecosystem.

“The original goal ofHICOOL was to attractoutstanding overseas entrepreneurialtalents toreturn to China to starttheir own businesses，” saidTao Ning， chief operating officer of SinovationVentures （Beijing） Enterprise ManagementLtd. and judge of HICOOL GEC. According toTao， the characteristics of HICOOL are hi-tech，top intellectuals， and internationality. “Thefields covered and the entrepreneurial talentsinvolved during the past five years have increasedsignificantly. More than 100 countriesand regions have been covered this year， whichis quite amazing，” he said.

Increasing Attractiveness

Since 2020， the HICOOL GEC has becomean important stage for world-class talents todisplay their abilities and chase their dreams inBeijing. Beijing is a center of national strategicscientific and technological forces， completewith innovation elements and a vibrant entrepreneurialatmosphere. It also provides a broadspace for global talents to make innovationand start a business.

Agile Robots is an intelligent robot start-upcompany that originated in Munich， Germany.The company won an award during the firstHICOOL GEC in 2020. With the support and helpof the Beijing municipal and Shunyi district governments，Agile Robots built a modern factory ofnearly 5，300 square meters in Shunyi. At present，it has grown from a team of a dozen members toa hi-tech enterprise with more than 900 employees，a corporate value of US $3.5 billion， andannual sales of over RMB 100 million， making ita leader in the field of intelligent robots.

According to Dennis Simon， president ofthe Alliance of Global Talent Organizations（AGTO）， the GES and GEC have become an allimportantevent for global innovative and entrepreneurialtalents. This not only reflects thefact that Beijing is becoming an internationaltalent gathering center， but also shows China’sprogress in innovation and economic development.

The 2024 GES attracted 161 global partnersand 4，683 overseas projects， an increase of 29percent compared to the previous competition.Thanks to Beijing’s increasingly ideal businessenvironment， up to now， some 115 internationalorganizations such as the Global Alliance forTrade in Services have opened offices in the city.

At the opening ceremony， HICOOL joinedhands with the organizers of world-renownedevents and summits such as Viva Technology，Mobile World Congress， and AsiaBerlin Summitto jointly establish a global top entrepreneurshipcompetition alliance. Through cross-borderin-depth dialogue and collaboration， it is providingan ever-broader stage and opportunitiesfor global entrepreneurs.

Beijing is an epitome of China. Since 2024，from the comprehensive implementation of theopen patent licensing system to the orderly expansionof opening-up in the fields of telecommunications，the Internet， education， cultureand medical care， all regions and departmentshave promoted reform and opening-up. Theyare creating a market-oriented， law-based， andinternational business environment， and arecultivating new drivers and advantages for China’seconomy. During the first half of the year，the number of newly established foreign-fundedenterprises in China increased by 14.2 percentyear on year， and the scale of foreign investmentattracted was nearly RMB 500 billion.

“Holding the Global Entrepreneurs Summit isin itself a testament to Beijing’s favorable policyenvironment and innovation ecosystem，” Simonsaid. He added that the AGTO will establish itsBeijing office this year to help build a global innovationand talent gathering center.

Dimitrios Petrotos， an entrepreneur fromGreece， said that the disability assistance equipmentthey developed with exoskeleton technologywon the third prize in the GEC. “This year isthe fifth time I have come to China and plan toset up a company here，” he said.

Over the past 10 years， Beijing has acceleratedits integration into the global innovationsystem， becoming an important source of internationalcutting-edge science and technologyand an important driver of global industrialtransformation. Cultivating the fertile soil forinnovation and entrepreneurship， HICOOL haskept pace with the times and advances with thecapital.