The Yangtze River Delta Haichuang Center in Hefei, capital of Anhui province. [Photo/WeChat account: hefeigaoxinfabu]

The Yangtze River Delta Haichuang Center is an innovation and entrepreneurship service center for overseas returnees in the Yangtze River Delta region, which consists of the metropolis of Shanghai and the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui.

The center is an important project of the Western Returned Scholars Association (the Overseas-educated Scholars Association of China) and is aimed at attracting more talents to the YRD region and promoting the integrated development of the region.

The Western Returned Scholars Associations of Anhui, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in the YRD region plan to pool their resources and provide various services such as policy interpretations, investment and financing docking, and professional guidance for startups through the center.

Established on Oct 21, 2020, the center is located within the Zhongan Chuanggu Technology Park in the Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone, Hefei, capital of Anhui province. It is operated by the Anhui Zhongan Chuanggu Technology Park Co, which was established by Anhui Investment Group and the Hefei high-tech zone.

Official statistics show that by July 30, 2021, the center had attracted 120 overseas returnees and held nearly 30 innovation and entrepreneurship, training and exchange activities.

The center is supporting 25 projects by overseas returnees, including six artificial intelligence projects, six life and health projects, three integrated circuit projects, five energy conservation and environmental protection projects, and five big data projects.

At a July 30 meeting regarding the development of the center, officials said the center will give more support to projects from key emerging industries, make full use of various activities to facilitate exchanges in the YRD region, and accelerate the building of sub-centers in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to attract more high-quality projects.