A forum that promotes innovation of small and medium-sized tech companies was held in Beijing on Nov 9, 2020, as one of a series of events held during the 2nd World Science and Technology Development Forum.
Technological innovation and business management experts, entrepreneurs, and investors participated in the event, providing suggestions for small and medium-sized tech enterprises to enhance their technological innovation capabilities and core competitiveness.
The forum was sponsored by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Chinese Academy of Engineering, and organized by the National Communication Center for Science and Technology, CAST, and the Management Committee of Zhongguancun Science Park.
Lyu Zhaoping, member of the leading Party members' group and secretary of the secretariat of CAST, said in his speech that small and medium tech companies are important participants in China's economic activities and are a vital part of the national technological innovation system. They play a critical role in national innovation and economic development.
To promote technological and economic integration, the CAST has launched the "Innovation China" platform that gives full play to the advantages of social organizations in resources and cross-industry synergy, and strives to build a scientific and technological innovation cooperation network, Lyu said.
In a video speech, Kazuki Okimura, former president of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, said enterprises, universities and other research institutions should strengthen cooperation to promote the circulation of knowledge, talents and funds and build an innovation-based system for in-depth cooperation among small and medium tech enterprises in China and Japan.
Zhu Jianhong, deputy director of the Management Committee of Zhongguancun Science Park, said that small and medium-sized tech companies play a unique role in innovative and high-quality development, and act as pioneers in technological innovation and trailblazers of technology and industry integration.
Reform and innovation should be accelerated to create a good environment and promote entrepreneurship and development of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, Zhu added.
Focusing on the topic of building a collaborative innovation empowerment network, Jia Jingdun, director of the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, said innovation is crucial to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and efforts should be put into policy and system innovation and implementation, the construction of entrepreneurial incubation platforms, and the cultivation of technology-based SMEs.
In addition, all relevant parties will endeavor to improve the development platform for small and medium tech companies, increasing their cooperation and promoting coordinated development of enterprises of different sizes, Jia said
Participants at the dialogue suggested a new mechanism that brings together technological, industrial, and venture capital resources for a more open, collaborative and pivotal innovation empowerment network.
They also discussed the development of a cross-industry organization alliance and believed social organizations should be mobilized to play a bigger role in building a harmonious innovation development community.
Zheng Haojun, director of the National Communication Center for Science and Technology, CAST, gave a concluding remark, saying that technology-based SMEs are the source of power for technological innovation and play an important role in enhancing technological innovation capabilities, supporting sustainable economic development, and expanding social employment in China.
Social organizations need to promote the flow, connection, and agglomeration of innovative resources and factors in a wider area and on a larger scale. By optimizing innovation ecology, they should boost the development of small and medium tech enterprises and promote the construction of a community of innovation, entrepreneurship and creation, Zheng said.
