On December 31, a number of academic conferences were held at the Ningbo Academician Center. 

Designed by Wu Zhiqiang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the center, covering an area of 22,000 square meters, was built in 2019 with an investment of 500 million yuan (USD 77.3 million).

The center is a platform providing services for innovation and entrepreneurship, academic exchange, achievement transformation and leisurely vacations.

It consists of an academician complex building, a design and research building, a lecture hall and a visitor center. The visitor center fully conveys a strong sense of the technological history of intelligent systems such as human-computer interaction and smart energy saving.

The center integrates a number of platforms for innovation, communications, training, incubation, urban smart control and health and leisure, which greatly push forward the gathering of quality talents, projects, institutions and capital.

"Since its opening in 2019, 49 academicians have visited the Ningbo academician center, resulting in 13 industrial projects led by academicians, 11 of which have reached cooperation," said Shen Hongfeng, a staff member at the center.

Supported by personnel departments and association of science and technology, the center has rapidly developed into a high-end intellectual innovation complex.

In May, 2019, the Ningbo academician center was listed in the first group of pilot units of the "Zhejiang academicians' home" by the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee Organization Department and the Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology. In December 2020, it was named as one of the first international academic exchange centers by the China Centre for International Science and Technology Exchange and the Zhejiang Association for Science and Technology.

In the next step, the center will focus on regional economic and social needs and assist in the development of emerging industries, service industry transformation, technological upgrading and innovation by providing decision-making advice, carrying out academic exchange, training talents, and popularizing science.

It will serve overseas and domestic academicians, attracting talents both at home and abroad.