The 2024 Suzhou International Sci-Tech Innovation Conference with the theme of “Boosting New quality Productive Forces, Building a Paradise for Sci-Tech Innovation” kicked off on Sept. 26. It witnessed the launch of a 100-billion sci-tech innovation fund cluster and the signing of projects with a total investment of about 260 billion yuan. The attendees of the conference included 71 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), some academicians from developed countries, representatives from 62 research institutes of the CAS and about 100 higher education institutions, as well as nearly 300 high-level foreign talents.
The conference also witnessed the release of a batch of policy measures to deepen the reform of science and technology system to promote the development of new quality productive forces, reinforce the principal role of enterprises in sci-tech innovation, and facilitate the building of a high-level innovative city and a talent-friendly city. There were 73 sci-tech innovation funds, 12 foreign-funded R&D projects, and 13 major science and technology projects signed to settle in Suzhou. In addition, the city released a list of needs for key industrial technologies, pledging to invest 5.242 billion yuan and inviting talents from all over the world to achieve breakthroughs in key common technologies.
During the event, the 2024 “Win in Suzhou” Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was launched. And a number of cooperation agreements were signed on site. Moreover, the “2024 Research Report on Chinese Talent-Friendly Cities” was released and the award ceremonies for “Suzhou Young Scientists”, “Suzhou Foreign-funded Innovative Enterprises”, “Chinese Unicorn Enterprises”, and “Suzhou Enterprises Most Favored by Investors” were held. A number of major scientific research, industrial and financial platforms such as the Yangtze River Delta Patient Capital Cooperation and Exchange Center, the Suzhou International Roadshow Center, and the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Digital Finance were inaugurated as well.
