The Light Conference on Advanced Optical Manufacturing is held in Rugao. [Photo/WeChat account: rugaofabu]

From April 16-17, Rugao hosted the Light Conference on Advanced Optical Manufacturing, bringing together over 500 scientists, entrepreneurs, suppliers, investors, and policymakers from around the world. The event, organized by Leading Optics (Jiangsu) Co Ltd and the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics, and Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, marked the first time the conference was held outside of Changchun.

Since its inception in 2012, the conference has been attended by over 5,000 scientists from more than 30 countries. This year's conference in Rugao reflected the county-level city's growing influence in the field of advanced optical manufacturing.

Leading Optics was founded by Ren Mingjun, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, along with his university friends. The company has invested 2 billion yuan ($276 million) to establish a production base in Rugao. Following Leading Optics' lead, five other optical companies signed agreements to set up operations in Rugao during the conference. These new arrivals are set to bolster Rugao's advanced optical manufacturing cluster.

Dame Jane Jiang, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK, remarked that the high-level exchange platform provided by the conference would greatly enhance Rugao's reputation in the optical manufacturing sector. She noted that the conference creates a broader platform for Rugao to attract innovative resources and promote industry-academia-research integration.

In recent years, Rugao has established nine new research institutions in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other major academic institutions. It has also built five incubators in partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and East China University of Science and Technology.

To support the rapid development of the advanced optical manufacturing industry, Rugao offers up to 200 million yuan in phased support for new national key laboratories. Additionally, the city provides various incentives such as a maximum annual subsidy of 1 million yuan for integrating private instruments into the municipal R&D resource sharing platform, as well as grants for factory refurbishment, talent training, and financial services.