Chengdu focuses spotlight on homegrown research

Scientific and technological efforts get promotional boost

Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan province is ramping up efforts to promote commercialization of its scientific and technological accomplishments by launching innovative policies, aimed at realizing an industrial upgrade.

In July, the city unveiled Several Policy Measures to Further Promote the Commercialization of Scientific and Technological Achievements in Chengdu, a strategy focused on building pilot platforms for the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements and creating industrial aggregation areas for those efforts.

Pilot-scale testing

As key links between laboratorial founding and practical application, some of these pilot-scale platforms have received special attention from the local government. One of them is Chengdu Birvice, a high-tech enterprise focusing on pilot-scale testing that has promoted the commercialization of more than 200 scientific research projects since its founding in 2018. It mainly targets commercial service robots, consumer electronics, smart parking and medical equipment, as well as providing professional services such as product design, prototype manufacturing, pilot-scale testing and supply chain design.

One of the projects is a breath-based mosquito trap developed by Tang Chengkang from Sichuan University. Thanks to the one-stop pilot-scale testing and mature services provided by Chengdu Birvice, Tang's research was applied in a number of new scenarios and achieved profitability just six months after the laboratory data was published. The product is now in its third generation, and it has already received an intention of ordering about 20,000 units.

Chengdu Birvice is committed to creating a closed-loop service for technology commercialization based on pilot-scale testing, and along with some State-owned capital, it initiated the first 100 million yuan ($140,010 million) pilot-scale testing venture capital fund in China.

Efforts from universities

As a major source of scientific and technological innovation, universities are another key partner for Chengdu's industry. Through the signing of cooperative agreements and the establishment of collaborative platforms, the scope of their alliance has been further broadened.

On Nov 22, the Chengdu city government signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Shanghai Jiao Tong University that will see the city and the university deepen cooperation in areas such as the construction of scientific and technological innovation platforms, commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, and talent introduction and cultivation as well as government staff member training.

Chengdu initiated cooperation with the university in 2020. Over the past three years, significant achievements have been made in core areas such as technology research and achievement commercialization. More than 20 projects have been implemented, and over 50 tech-driven enterprises have been nurtured, with a cumulative output value of more than 500 million yuan.

As of November, Chengdu has signed cooperation agreements with 20 universities, including Tsinghua University and Peking University, and continues to pursue comprehensive cooperation. In April, the Chengdu Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Studies at Peking University launched its operation, becoming China's first and only pioneering cross-disciplinary biotechnology research institute of the university.

A director from the Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University said Chengdu is continuously improving its ability to lead innovative development, which coincides with the development path of the institute. He said that in addition to abundant resources, Chengdu's penchant for exploration and in-depth understanding of scientific and technological innovation was a major factor in the establishment of the institute.

Since the beginning of this year, Chengdu has held more than 230 special events at well-known universities, helping more than 4,000 scientific and technological enterprises, research teams and institutions realize matchmaking for their projects.

Cultivation of talent

Technology brokers and managers also play critical roles in accelerating the commercialization of Chengdu's scientific and technological achievements by optimizing communication between the supply and demand sides of the industry. In August, the city included technology brokers on its talent classification list for the first time. On Nov 22, the Chengdu science and technology bureau publicly solicited opinions on the Three-Year Action Plan (2023-25) for Construction of Chengdu's Technology Broker (Manager) Professionals.

Xia Chunfen has been involved in the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements for more than 10 years. Daqi Technology, founded by a research and development team from Sichuan University, is one of the companies incubated by Xia. "When we first contacted Daqi Technology, all they had was just a technical description printed on a paper. This research achievement had been 'sleeping' in the laboratory for more than 20 years," she said.

Since 2017, Xia has guided the company in overcoming the difficulties in commercializing its technology, setting up an equity structure and upgrading products.

Since the beginning of 2023, Chengdu has strengthened training of technology brokers and managers. On Nov 23, more than 140 professionals engaged in the commercialization of R&D achievements gathered at Sichuan Tianfu New Area to attend a training course. According to Zhang Limei, one of the organizers, it marked this year's second round of training for junior technology brokers held by Tianfu International Technology Transformation Center, and included trainees from companies and universities, research institutes and government departments.

Up to now, the National Science and Technology Transformation Center's southwest center has conducted 20 such training courses this year. Based on such efforts, Chengdu is expected to recruit around 2,000 technology brokers and managers throughout the year — nearly four times the average training number in previous years.

liyou@chinadaily.com.cn