The Beijing Innovation and Entrepreneurship Report at the Zhongguancun Forum

On a spring day in Beijing, as all things come to life, the global attention for technological innovation once again converges in this city of science and technology.

From March 25 to March 29, the Zhongguancun Forum annual meeting will be held with the theme “Deep Integration of Technological Innovation and Industrial Innovation,” featuring over a hundred activities across five major sections.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan, Beijing’s development of high-tech industries has achieved historic breakthroughs, becoming the most vivid annotation of the integration of science and technology.

In this wave of innovation, the youth remain the core force, not only as users of technological innovations but also as promoters of innovative practices.

On the eve of the forum’s opening, Beijing Youth Daily reporters visited university laboratories, R&D centers of tech companies, and entrepreneurship incubation bases, engaging in in-depth discussions with dozens of young researchers, entrepreneurs, and students to identify the top ten hot issues they are most concerned about, seeking answers during the forum annual meeting.

Industrial Innovation and Fundamental Strength

Focusing on Beijing’s integration of technological and industrial innovation, responding to the youth’s core concerns regarding urban technological development.

1 Question

What hard support underpins the “Beijing model”?

The core theme of this forum, “Deep Integration of Technological Innovation and Industrial Innovation,” strikes at the heart of current technological development issues—transforming technology from “paper results” into a practical force driving industrial upgrades. The youth’s primary concern is whether Beijing has formed a replicable and perceivable technological integration “Beijing model,” and what hard support exists for it?

Through continuous efforts, Beijing has carved out three distinct integration pathways, turning “integration” from a concept into reality. The first is the “Leading Talent + New Research Institution” model, where new research institutions like the Zhiyuan Institute, Beijing Institute of Biology, and Beijing Academy of Science break through systemic barriers, focusing on cutting-edge research while closely following industrial needs to promote results transformation, allowing the innovative wisdom of leading talents to possess both height and applicability. The second is the “City-District-Enterprise Joint Fund” model, which makes enterprises the “question creators” of innovation, research institutions the “answer providers,” with government funds playing a guiding role, precisely developing solutions around “bottleneck” issues, thereby avoiding the disconnect between research and industry from the source. The third is the “Demonstration Park + Pilot Enterprises” dual-industry integration model, in core areas like Yizhuang and Haidian, where advanced manufacturing and modern service industries are deeply coupled, forming a virtuous cycle of “manufacturing empowering services, services feeding back into manufacturing,” nurturing new productive forces.

2 Question

How is the “first city of artificial intelligence” being realized?

The consensus in the industry is that “Beijing is the first city of artificial intelligence,” and the youth are more concerned that this “first” not only has data support but also tangible results and applications. By 2025, Beijing’s artificial intelligence industry development level is expected to leap forward, with three core indicators remaining the highest in the country, solidifying the hard foundation.

According to data from the “Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry White Paper (2025),” the city’s core artificial intelligence industry scale is expected to exceed 450 billion yuan, with over 2,500 AI companies gathered in just the first half of the year, and 183 large models filed, with both quantity and quality leading the nation. More importantly, Beijing has produced a significant number of “Beijing original” cutting-edge results: the Zhiyuan Institute’s FlagOS achieves vertical integration of “module core collaboration,” enhancing the compatibility of large models with chip hardware; the Beijing General Artificial Intelligence Research Institute’s “Tongtong 2.0” has completed the leap from theoretical innovation to capability verification, laying the foundation for general artificial intelligence; the Beijing Institute of Scientific Intelligence’s Bohr Research Space Station has become the world’s first AI research platform covering “reading literature - conducting computations - performing experiments - multidisciplinary collaboration.” Benchmark large models such as Doubao, Wenxin Yiyan, GLM, and Kimi have performed excellently in authoritative international evaluations, with some results reaching top international levels, keeping Beijing firmly in the global first tier of artificial intelligence.

The value of hard technology ultimately manifests in industrial applications and everyday life scenarios. In Beijing, AI is empowering various industries with “AI+”: Zhishu AI merges the cultural atmosphere of Beijing’s hutongs with technology, video large models reshape human-computer interaction experiences, and robots on the Spring Festival Gala stage perform spectacularly using flexible control technology. From intelligent industrial production and refined urban governance to medical health auxiliary diagnosis and personalized education, the application scenarios of artificial intelligence are continuously expanding, achieving a critical leap from technological breakthroughs to comprehensive empowerment.

Youth Growth and Achievement Transformation

Focusing on support for young talent, loosening restrictions on researchers, and transforming technological achievements, responding to the core demands of youth growth and innovative practices.

3 Question

What innovations are there in supporting young talent?

For young researchers and entrepreneurs, beyond material guarantees like “money” and “housing,” institutional innovations are more likely to encourage them to think boldly, act decisively, and focus on research. While enhancing material support, Beijing has launched a series of pioneering institutional initiatives to unleash the innovative vitality of youth.

By 2026, Beijing will provide one million square meters of entrepreneurial space and raise funds for 10,000 youth talent apartments to alleviate the concerns of young people; Haidian District has customized the “Haiying Talent” and “Fire Together” plans, providing selected “Haiying talents” with up to 1 million yuan in funding and comprehensive support for housing and household registration. More significantly, in terms of mechanism design, Beijing’s Natural Science Foundation has taken the lead nationally in launching non-consensus innovation projects, focusing on supporting innovative and disruptive research, allowing young researchers to dare to step out of their “comfort zone” to explore the unknown. In 2024, more than three-quarters of the non-consensus innovation project leaders were young people, with the youngest being only 27 years old; among all Natural Science Foundation project leaders in the city, 81.7% are under 45, making youth the main force in basic research and cutting-edge innovation.

Beijing has also innovatively launched support policies for “quasi-research talents,” moving the training threshold forward. The undergraduate “Initiate Research” program allows young students to transition from “cooperators” in research to “active implementers,” truly integrating them into the national innovation system.

4 Question

What measures are there for “loosening” researchers?

Institutional constraints have long been a “roadblock” to the transformation of research achievements, with many researchers hesitant to transform results due to fears of being held accountable for “decision-making errors” and lacking the motivation for transformation due to ownership issues. Beijing has adopted a combination of “due diligence exemption” and “empowerment reform” to support researchers at the institutional level, stimulating innovation and transformation vitality.

On one hand, Beijing has improved the due diligence exemption mechanism for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in universities and research institutions, clarifying responsibility boundaries. Researchers can carry out transformation work as stipulated, and even if decision-making errors occur, they will not be held accountable, completely alleviating worries and allowing researchers to confidently take laboratory results to market. On the other hand, it is implementing a reform of the empowerment of scientific and technological achievements and separate management of assets, granting ownership or long-term usage rights to researchers, making them direct beneficiaries of transformation, shifting from “I have to transform” to “I want to transform,” forming intrinsic motivation.

The effectiveness of this combination has already been fully demonstrated; Shen Jie, a distinguished researcher at the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is one such beneficiary. Her team focuses on quantum devices and low-temperature physics, with some patents already applied in Huairou Science City, while the majority of results are produced with the support of Beijing’s “Technology New Star” and Youth Science Fund key projects. Shen Jie admits that it is the “loosening” policies and financial support from Beijing that enable the team to focus on research and dare to promote results into the industrial front line.

5 Question

How can we build a bridge for result transformation?

The “valley of death” from laboratory results to market is the most troublesome issue for young researchers and entrepreneurs. Beijing is constructing a comprehensive transformation system through systematic measures, building multiple bridges for results to cross the “valley of death” from policies, platforms, and talent.

In November 2025, Beijing released the “Beijing Action Plan for Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements (2025-2027),” clearly strengthening the linkage between the Zhongguancun International Technology Transaction Center and the Beijing Intelligent Service Platform for the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements, ensuring that transformations have policy guidelines and platform support. The first bridge is to expand the “Zhuque Talent” technical manager team, composed of multidisciplinary talents familiar with research, market, and law, serving as the “matchmaker” for results transformation. The Beijing Intelligent Service Platform for the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements “Zhuanguo” creates a “home for technical managers,” employing an “online + offline” interactive model to break down information barriers between research and the market.

The second bridge is the layout of concept verification and pilot testing platforms, allowing results to “try their hand” first. Beijing plans to establish more than ten relevant platforms to provide services such as technical verification and process optimization, reducing the risks of industrialization; Haidian District is accelerating the construction of concept verification centers and university technology transfer centers, deepening “advanced incubation” services to refine technologies and products before they enter the market.

The third bridge is the full-process services provided by the “Zhuanguo” platform. This platform launched in March 2025, building five major resource pools such as a results repository and demand repository, currently gathering 18,000 results and over 40,000 scientific and technological talents, linking 1,157 professional service institutions. The platform, relying on AI large models, has created “Xiao Guo AI,” which can achieve precise profiling and intelligent matching of supply and demand information, fundamentally solving the blockage of “results cannot find the market, and companies cannot find technology.” As of now, the platform has completed over 4,700 supply-demand connections, facilitating 437 results to land, and establishing 123 derivative enterprises. Beijing plans to establish an efficient transformation system by 2027, incubating 3,000 technology-based enterprises and 600 specialized and innovative enterprises, allowing more results to become new momentum for high-quality development.

Future Tracks and Global Positioning

Focusing on capital support, dual-industry integration opportunities, services for enterprises going overseas, and Beijing’s global innovation positioning, providing comprehensive references for youth development.

6 Question

How to support youth entrepreneurial projects?

In the current cautious investment environment, “invest early, invest small, invest in hard technology” has become a core demand for technological development, with early funding support being key for youth entrepreneurial projects to survive and thrive. Beijing’s core approach is to leverage government funds for “counter-cyclical” adjustments to encourage social capital to increase investment in technology-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises, forming a diversified investment and financing system.

On one hand, it improves the technology finance service system to solve the financing difficulties of light asset technology enterprises. Beijing promotes specialized products like “specialized and innovative loans,” “R&D loans,” and “intellectual property pledge financing,” encouraging financial institutions to break free from collateral thinking and increase credit loan offerings, making technology and patents “hard currency” for financing while precisely matching the financing needs of small and medium-sized enterprises.

On the other hand, it promotes deep cooperation between government funds and social capital, constructing a full-chain investment matrix. Beijing encourages districts to connect with national-level funds, supporting the establishment of new sub-funds focusing on hard technology early-stage projects; Haidian District invests 5 billion yuan in financial resources annually, laying out the innovation full chain while announcing three phases of a total of 20 billion yuan in the Zhongguancun Science City Technology Growth Fund, creating an investment matrix covering the seed stage to the maturity stage of enterprises, allowing technology enterprises at different development stages to receive funding support.

7 Question

What new opportunities does dual-industry integration bring?

The integration of advanced manufacturing and modern service industries is an important carrier for Beijing to cultivate new productive forces and a new opportunity for youth career development. This integration brings multidimensional development space for young people, becoming a new windfall for employment and entrepreneurship.

Firstly, dual-industry integration gives rise to many new professions and positions, broadening career choices. In this integration process, traditional occupational boundaries are broken, with new professions such as industrial internet engineer, digital twin designer, and cultural technology creative engineer constantly emerging, which require both specialized skills and cross-domain integrative thinking, highly aligning with the knowledge structure and ability characteristics of contemporary youth.

Secondly, key areas of dual-industry integration have become new tracks for youth entrepreneurship. In 2023, Beijing clearly identified eight key areas for the integration of new-generation information technology with manufacturing service, and pharmaceutical manufacturing with health services, which, relying on Beijing’s industrial advantages and technological foundations, possess a complete ecosystem, rich scenarios, and ample policy support, providing excellent soil for youth entrepreneurship. For example, in the intelligent connected vehicle sector, the integration of the entire industry chain from R&D and manufacturing to vehicle-road coordination and smart travel has created a multitude of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Furthermore, the pilot demonstration system for dual-industry integration provides a platform for young people to grow through practice. By June 2025, Beijing had recognized eight municipal-level demonstration parks and 67 pilot enterprises, with the second batch of 32 pilot enterprises covering seven key areas. These bases not only provide job opportunities but also allow young people to participate in industry integration practices, enhancing their comprehensive abilities in project R&D and market operations. The ten typical cases of the “Beijing model” for dual-industry integration released by the Zhongguancun Industrial Research Institute also provide innovative samples for young entrepreneurs. Relevant officials from the Beijing Development and Reform Commission stated that Beijing will accelerate the creation of a “ten parks and hundred enterprises” development pattern, with more integrated scenarios offering more opportunities for young people in the future.

8 Question

How to layout future industrial new tracks?

In addition to AI large models, fields such as embodied intelligence and commercial aerospace have become new focal points of interest for youth, as these areas relate to urban industrial competitiveness and determine the career and entrepreneurial directions for young people. In its layout of future industries, Beijing has already formed distinctive characteristics and phased achievements.

In the commercial aerospace sector, Beijing has established a “Southern Arrow, Northern Star” development pattern, becoming a national core area. The world’s first liquid oxygen-methane rocket, “Zhuque No. 2,” has successfully entered orbit, marking Beijing’s commercial rocket R&D and manufacturing at an internationally advanced level; currently, Beijing has formed a complete industry chain ecosystem covering satellite development, ground equipment, satellite measurement and control, and “communication and remote sensing” applications, with leading enterprises accounting for nearly 20% nationwide, demonstrating significant industrial clustering effects.

In the field of embodied intelligence, Beijing is advancing rapidly, with the “Beijing Action Plan for Embodied Intelligence Technology Innovation and Industrial Cultivation” set to be introduced in 2025, promoting the leap of robots from “information processing” to “physical operations.” Nearly 200 innovative robot products have already been implemented in over 130 scenarios, ranging from industrial robots in factories and service robots in supermarkets to agricultural plant protection robots and home companion robots, with embodied intelligence accelerating its integration into production and daily life.

Haidian District, as the core area for Beijing’s future industries, has been recognized as a pilot area for future industries, establishing a “one main, two auxiliary” track—focusing on future information while collaborating in future manufacturing and future health. Its embodied intelligence enterprises account for 40% of the city’s total, centered around the Zhongguancun (Haidian) Embodied Intelligence Innovation Industrial Park, creating a global industrial cluster; simultaneously, it continues to exert efforts in cutting-edge directions such as quantum information and 6G. Additionally, innovative carriers such as “North Latitude Community” and “Modular World” have been established, with the incubation system becoming increasingly complete, providing full-chain support for young entrepreneurs from R&D to transformation.

9 Question

What “springboard” is there for enterprises to go overseas?

Going overseas has become an option for more and more tech enterprises, with young entrepreneurs and employees being the core force behind this. They are concerned about whether Beijing can build a professional “springboard” for enterprises, providing comprehensive support for going overseas. Beijing’s answer is to construct a comprehensive, full-chain overseas service system, making Beijing a “bridgehead” for tech enterprises going abroad.

Beijing is optimizing the “Belt and Road” express service platform and improving the “within Beijing + overseas” service network, encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises to go overseas in groups and promoting cooperation among enterprises in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to integrate resources, reduce overseas risks, and leverage regional industrial complementary advantages. At the same time, dedicated overseas service carriers are established to provide precise support for enterprises in specific fields. The first batch of “Zhongguancun Artificial Intelligence Enterprise Overseas Service Port” focuses on the AI sector, offering services such as market research and channel connection; the “Beijing Digital Economy Enterprise Overseas Innovation Service Base,” unveiled in July 2024, has constructed an empowering platform of “government guidance, market operation, and one-stop service,” becoming a key support for digital economy enterprises going overseas.

Over the past year, this base has achieved significant results, establishing a service network covering 29 countries, setting up six overseas service stations, linking 13 embassies in China, and holding nearly a hundred overseas events, reaching nearly 4,000 enterprises and facilitating over 20 companies to establish themselves abroad, with cumulative international orders nearing 1 billion yuan. In December 2025, Beijing released a three-year action plan for this base, proposing to fully establish a comprehensive service system by 2028, layout 20 overseas service stations, support 100 enterprises in obtaining overseas orders, promote 30 “Beijing solutions” abroad, and strive to create a national-level “Digital Silk Road” economic cooperation pilot zone. Additionally, the China-SCO Artificial Intelligence Application Cooperation Center and the Zhongguancun Independent Large Model Industry Alliance will build international cooperation bridges for enterprises going overseas, allowing Beijing’s technology to better integrate into the global innovation network.

10 Question

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

As the 14th Five-Year Plan concludes successfully and the 15th Five-Year Plan is about to begin, Beijing’s position in the global innovation landscape is the focus of global attention and a source of pride and expectation for the youth of Beijing. The answer lies in a series of impressive data: Beijing has become a key hub in the global innovation network, firmly ranking in the global first tier of innovation.

From the perspective of research cities, Beijing has topped the global “Nature Index - Research Cities” list for eight consecutive years, maintaining the highest share globally for the adjusted 2023-2024 period, with world-leading output capacity and impact in natural science research. As for international innovation centers, the “International Technology Innovation Center Index 2025” shows that Beijing scored 85.19, ranking in the global top three for four consecutive years, and for the first time topping the global ranking in the scientific center dimension, with comprehensive strength recognized internationally.

In terms of industrial scale, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Beijing has cumulatively promoted the landing of 1,105 key projects for the construction of international innovation centers, forming two trillion-level industrial clusters in new-generation information technology and the technology service industry, as well as seven hundred billion-level industrial clusters including artificial intelligence, making high-tech industries the core support of the economy. Regarding enterprise cultivation, Beijing has ranked third globally in the number of unicorn enterprises for four consecutive years, with over 2 million small and medium-sized enterprises, 11,062 specialized and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises, and 1,035 national-level “little giants,” ranking among the top in the country; in the “Global Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Report 2025,” Beijing ranks first in Asia and among the world’s top cities. In terms of R&D investment, Beijing’s R&D expenditure intensity remains around 6%, ranking among the top global innovative cities; R&D expenditure in large-scale manufacturing accounts for the top three nationwide, and the number of effective invention patents in the information software industry has nearly doubled compared to 2020, highlighting the prominent position of enterprises as innovation entities.

Source: Beijing Youth Daily