Adding Another Spark to the Yangtze River Delta: Anhui Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center | Cooperation | Yangtze River Delta
"We hope to add another fire to make the 99 degree water boil again by adding 1 degree."
Today, at the 5th Yangtze River Delta Integrated Development High Level Forum held in Hefei, Anhui, the three provinces and cities of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui jointly signed the "Shanghai Zhangjiang, Anhui Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center Cooperation and Co construction Agreement" and the "Memorandum of Cooperation on Major Science and Technology Infrastructure Linkage Development in the Yangtze River Delta". In an interview, Kaixin, Director of the Science and Technology Innovation Coordination Office of the Shanghai Promotion of Science and Technology Innovation Center and the Zhangjiang High tech Industrial Development Zone Management Committee, vividly likened the signing of this agreement to "adding another flame".
"Adding another flame" comes from a personal feeling of being sincere. Before signing the contract, Kaixin found through research that the cooperation between research institutions and universities in the Yangtze River Delta was already thriving. This trend can also be seen from the data. The report "2022 Yangtze River Delta Regional Collaborative Innovation Index" shows that the Yangtze River Delta Regional Collaborative Innovation Index has been on the rise, increasing from 100 points in 2011 to 247.11 points in 2021, indicating significant achievements in the integrated scientific and technological innovation development of the Yangtze River Delta.
This leads to another topic. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the rise of the Yangtze River Delta integration to the national strategy. Standing at this point, the Yangtze River Delta also needs to "add another fire", improve the cooperation mechanism, and further break through the bottlenecks and difficulties of innovative sources.
Not just blood relationships
In Hefei, there is a thriving cooperation among research institutions in the Yangtze River Delta. Zhang Hui, General Manager of Benyuan Quantum Computing Technology Co., Ltd., is a native of Shanghai. After graduating with a PhD, he returned to his hometown of Shanghai to work for a period of time. After the industrialization of the quantum field in Hefei began to accelerate, he went to Hefei again to start a business. In his eyes, the cooperation of the Yangtze River Delta in the field of quantum is very active. For example, many of the company's work papers and research work are based on universities in Shanghai and Hefei; The company is building a new computing power platform that will be provided to enterprise users in the Yangtze River Delta region for use.
Recently, cooperation has continued to heat up. Just a few days ago, Shanghai Supercomputing Center and Benyuan Quantum teamed up to establish the Yangtze River Delta Quantum Super Collaborative Innovation Center. Zhang Hui revealed that he has frequently received invitations and collaborations from his hometown Shanghai, and more and more Shanghai resources are deeply involved in the new track of quantum computing. Negotiations for multiple projects landing in Shanghai are currently underway.
The flourishing cross regional cooperation is because the Yangtze River Delta has rich scientific and technological innovation resources, which has laid a foundation for cooperation between Shanghai and Hefei. However, on closer examination, it can also be seen that there is a layer of "blood relationship" implied in this cooperation: Zhang Hui has been studying in Hefei for a long time, and after being admitted to the Department of Physics of the University of Science and Technology of China, he completed the research on quantum non cloning with Guo Guangcan, an academician of the CAS Member. Later, he guaranteed to study in the key laboratory of quantum information of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and continued to study under Guo Guangcan to engage in quantum related research. In 2018, at the 15th anniversary gathering held by the research team, "Senior Brother" returned to Hefei.
This kind of elusive "blood relationship" is not uncommon in scientific research cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta. Since 2012, Wu Zhiqiang, an academician of the CAE Member and a professor of Tongji University, has tracked and studied the status of patent rights in the Yangtze River Delta, and found that the number of joint applications between provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Delta has increased more than five times in the past 10 years. Looking around the world, this number is comparable only to that of the East China Sea Coast of the United States. "Why do these people in the Yangtze River Delta apply for patents across provinces? In the end, it will be found that the cooperation between the two parties is either a teacher-student relationship, or the researchers are in contact with the research institutions in their hometown." In an interview with reporters, Wu Zhiqiang once mentioned, "It seems that the cities in the Yangtze River Delta are jointly engaged in scientific research and applying for patents, but in fact, it is still a blood and geographical relationship between people."
In traditional society, blood is a stable force that can generate a natural sense of trust, but its limitations are also evident. In the context of the integration of the Yangtze River Delta, in addition to the natural "blood relationship", it is obvious that the Yangtze River Delta needs to establish a more effective collaborative mechanism to solve the problem of poor flow of innovative elements caused by administrative division barriers between regions.
Collaboration is a snap
At the High Level Forum on Integrated Development of the Yangtze River Delta, Wu Chun, Executive Partner, Managing Director, and Global Senior Partner of Boston Consulting Company in China, released a research result in a speech, which evaluated the comprehensive strength of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration against the six major urban agglomerations in the world. It showed that the Yangtze River Delta still has a certain gap from the world's top urban agglomerations in terms of economic efficiency, basic research, and applied research indicators. The underlying reason is that innovation capabilities still need to be further improved, and there is an urgent need to seek new breakthroughs in mechanisms.
In response, Wu Chun proposed a set of "combination fists" for the "government, enterprises, and industry associations" in the Yangtze River Delta region: it is suggested that in basic research, the government can benchmark against the Boshua urban agglomeration in the United States, conduct a large amount of non competitive research support for cutting-edge research fields, and encourage social funds to invest in basic research; In terms of application research, it can benchmark against Japanese common technology research institutions, collaborate with cross regional leading enterprises, operate under a mechanism led by enterprises, and ultimately achieve cross regional technology cooperation starting from technological breakthroughs; In terms of industrial implementation, it can benchmark against leading urban agglomerations in the United States and Japan. Different industries have formed differentiated division of labor models, and industry associations play an important role in promoting cross regional flow of factors.
This set of "combination fists" also conforms to the basic laws of technological innovation. At the high-level forum on the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD Co., Ltd., recalled the development process of new energy vehicles in China. It was precisely because more than a decade ago, China chose the track of electric vehicle electrification. After a long period of perseverance, overcoming numerous difficulties, and not giving up, it has given rise to the leading position of new energy vehicles in China today. The industry has gone from being driven by policies more than a decade ago to being driven by both policies and markets five years ago, and in recent years, it has formed a development pattern dominated by market forces.
"This trend can be clearly seen from this year's Shanghai Auto Show. In the era of fuel powered cars, Chinese brand booths were relatively scarce; with the accelerated development of electrification, new technologies and products are continuously iterating, and Chinese brand booths are now crowded." Wang Chuanfu was quite proud in his words. "The market size and consumption power of the Yangtze River Delta are envied by entrepreneurs from any country or region. At the same time, the Yangtze River Delta's exports also have a strong foundation and natural advantages, so entrepreneurs who settle in the Yangtze River Delta are very happy."
The story of new energy vehicles may provide an idea for scientific and technological innovation cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta. In the broader space of the Yangtze River Delta, it is necessary to establish more effective cooperation mechanisms across regions between governments, enterprises, and research institutions, further promoting technology sharing, resource integration, and collaborative innovation.
The changes are already visible. According to the recently signed "Cooperation and Co construction Agreement between Shanghai Zhangjiang and Anhui Hefei Comprehensive National Science Centers" and the "Memorandum of Cooperation on Major Science and Technology Infrastructure Linkage Development in the Yangtze River Delta", the Shanghai Jiangsu Zhejiang Anhui region plans to further enhance the level of cooperation and co construction between Shanghai Zhangjiang and Anhui Hefei Comprehensive National Science Centers, and build a regional innovation community. Collaborate to promote the open sharing of large scientific infrastructure clusters, strengthen the integrated and coordinated development of scientific and technological innovation, and lead and drive the deep exploration and construction of a new development pattern in the Yangtze River Delta region.
At the recently held Yangtze River Delta Entrepreneur Alliance Industry Digitalization Summit, participating entrepreneurs jointly issued the "Hefei Declaration on General Artificial Intelligence", advocating that the Yangtze River Delta Entrepreneur Alliance should bravely shoulder its mission and adhere to technological innovation at the source. Liu Qingfeng, the rotating chairman of the new alliance and the chairman of iFlytek Co., Ltd., said, "We are very confident in working together with everyone to build a globally influential hub for innovation in general artificial intelligence technology and emerging industries in the Yangtze River Delta. In this wave of general artificial intelligence, the Yangtze River Delta region can definitely make great achievements."
"I am originally from Anhui and have been working in Shanghai for a long time." In an interview with reporters, Kaixin revealed his "blood relationship" in the Yangtze River Delta, but in the joint construction of Zhangjiang and Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center in Shanghai, he clearly pays more attention to how both sides can showcase their strengths, complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, and work together. "We welcome research universities in Anhui to establish branches in Shanghai, leveraging Shanghai's internationalization background, and using Shanghai's advantages to attract international talents. This is a win-win measure for both sides."
"Our cooperation can be said to be a perfect fit, and it's at this point." Kai Zhen is very certain about this.
