Shanghai Builds Global Science and Technology Innovation Hub
Shanghai is steadily advancing its transformation into a global science and technology innovation hub, according to a comprehensive report published by People’s Daily Online on August 2. The city’s strategy, structured around three principles—daring to act, acting well, and working together—is positioning Shanghai as a leading center for technological advancement and original innovation.
A City of Innovation Momentum
The scale of Shanghai’s innovation activity is striking. The 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC), held July 17-20 in Shanghai, featured an exhibition area exceeding 100,000 square meters for the first time, with 4,486 exhibits and 351 products launched globally for the first time. According to China Daily, the conference hosted 177 international procurement delegations and is expected to generate approximately 20.36 billion yuan in procurement agreements, up about 25 percent year-on-year.
The city’s major scientific facilities are also seeing surging demand. The Shanghai Light Source, a synchrotron radiation facility, reported a 16 percent year-on-year increase in open operation machine hours in the first half of 2026, with enterprise user hours growing 44.2 percent. Meanwhile, Zhiyuan Robotics, a general-purpose embodied intelligence company, has produced over 15,000 units, reaching its 10,000-unit mass production milestone in less than three months, as reported by Xinhua Finance.
Dare to Act: Strengthening Original Innovation
At the heart of Shanghai’s strategy is a commitment to basic research—the “first kilometer” of technological innovation. In April 2026, President Xi Jinping attended the Symposium on Strengthening Basic Research in Shanghai, emphasizing the need to “strengthen basic research with greater efforts and more concrete measures, enhance our original innovation capabilities, and further consolidate the foundation for building a strong science and technology nation.”
Shanghai has responded with institutional innovation. The city established a Basic Research Pioneer Zone, which selects young researchers willing to explore “uncharted territory” and provides them with long-term stable funding. The Shangsi Natural Science Research Institute, created to manage this initiative, implements a “topic-based personnel selection mechanism” supporting high-risk, high-value exploratory research. A revision to the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Regulations now mandates that municipal fiscal science and technology innovation funds for basic research should not be less than one-third of the total.
“The city of Shanghai is very willing to provide full support for high-risk, long-cycle original exploration,” said Zhang Jie, a CAS Academician and Director of the Li Zhengdao Institute.
The impact of this approach is already visible. Researcher Liu Cong from the CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, one of the first Shangsi Exploration Scholars, discovered the world’s first Parkinson’s disease new target FAM171A2 in collaboration with Huashan Hospital. The resulting PET tracer SST001 entered Phase I clinical trials in June 2026—the first domestically developed product of its kind, as China News reported. Liu Cong noted, “Shanghai is a place where basic researchers can sit on the cold bench [patiently pursue long-term research].”
The Li Zhengdao Institute is deploying major scientific facilities including the PandaX dark matter detector in Sichuan, the TRIDENT neutrino telescope in the South China Sea, and the JUST spectral telescope in Qinghai, creating a basic research network anchored in Shanghai, according to Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Good at Acting: Accelerating Technology Transfer
Shanghai is also focused on the “key kilometer” between theory and product. The Zhangjiang Pharma Valley has gathered over 4,000 biomedical innovation entities, 10 major science infrastructure facilities, and over 200 professional service platforms, building an efficient full-chain ecosystem.
“Pilot testing is the necessary path for drugs to go from laboratory to industrialization, and it is also the most likely link to get stuck,” said Li Gang, Executive Director of Production Science and Technology at Maiwei Biotech.
The Zhangjiang High-Tech 895 Incubator, operating since 2015, has incubated over 1,600 innovative enterprises, including more than 180 high-tech enterprises and 140 specialized and innovative enterprises. As China Daily reported, the incubator operates a “three-in-one” system of innovation base, entrepreneurship camp, and incubation fund, with a chip testing public service platform spanning over 4,000 square meters of clean testing space.
“From chip tape-out to packaging and testing, we can get assistance from surrounding enterprises,” said Zhong Hansen, founder of Qisuan Guangqi, a photonic computing company incubated at the 895.
Shanghai has also built 19 high-quality incubators since June 2023, with over 410 enterprises in incubation. Four have been rated as Ministry of Industry and Information Technology excellent-level incubators, accounting for one-third of the national total. The Brain-Computer Interface Innovation Center, jointly established by Minhang District and Fudan University, has registered over 50 brain-computer interface enterprises since construction began in late June 2025.
Working Together: Regional Collaboration
Shanghai’s innovation strategy extends beyond its city limits. In December 2025, the Central Economic Work Conference first proposed building the “Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta) International Science and Technology Innovation Center,” expanding the initiative from a single city to the entire Yangtze River Delta region.
The numbers reflect the scale of this collaboration. In 2025, the Yangtze River Delta recorded 46,800 technology contract transactions totaling 246.13 billion yuan. The G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor connects nine cities across Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, linking R&D, manufacturing, logistics, and service industry chains. The Along-Shanghai-Nanjing Industrial Innovation Belt integrates achievement exhibition and industrial services.
“Shanghai is further integrating regional innovation resources and industrial chain supporting capabilities, better playing a leading and exemplary role in promoting the coordinated development of science and technology innovation in the Yangtze River Delta,” said Hu Guanzi, Deputy Researcher at the China Academy of Macroeconomic Research.
Analysis: A Model for Innovation-Driven Development
The Shanghai model represents a comprehensive approach to building an innovation ecosystem. In 2025, Shanghai’s basic research investment reached approximately 12 percent of R&D expenditure. The city saw more than 320 new tech enterprises established daily, approximately 9,000 newly certified high-tech enterprises, and technology contract transaction value reaching 649.679 billion yuan, up 24.9 percent year-on-year.
The Shanghai-Suzhou innovation cluster ranked 6th in the world in the 2025 Global Innovation Index. In the first half of 2026, 16 hard-tech enterprises from Shanghai listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with total market value ranked first nationally.
As the Shanghai Science and Technology Party Building report noted, Shanghai’s three leading industries—integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence—have exceeded 2 trillion yuan in scale, with the city’s economy entering the global top 5 cities during its 14th Five-Year Plan period.
What’s Next
As China enters its 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), Shanghai is building a “2+3+6+6” modern industrial system, including six emerging pillar industries. The city aims to further integrate education development, scientific and technological innovation, and talent cultivation.
According to CCTV News, Shanghai is committed to transforming the “key variables” of scientific and technological innovation into the “maximum increment” for high-quality development. The city’s progress will be closely watched as a bellwether for China’s broader innovation-driven development strategy.
“Anchoring on the goal of building the Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta) International Science and Technology Innovation Center, Shanghai is focused on improving the overall efficiency of the innovation system, promoting education development, scientific and technological innovation, and talent cultivation in an integrated manner,” a Shanghai Municipal Government official said.