This year marks the fifth anniversary of the proposal of the People's City concept. As the place where it was first proposed, Yangpu, with its booming digital economy development and vibrant life, let's feel this increasingly "YOUNG" people's city...

Shanghai's Yangpu is named after Yangshupu Road and Yangshupu Port. When mentioning Yangpu, the first thing that comes to people's minds is the deeply embedded industrial genes here.

In recent years, our district has deeply implemented the innovation-driven development strategy and embarked on a path of transformation and upgrading from "Industrial Yangpu" to "Innovative Yangpu," becoming one of the first national innovation-oriented urban areas, an important carrier of Shanghai's science and technology innovation center, a pilot urban area for "Science and Technology Innovation China," and a national innovation-driven demonstration zone.

From the "birthplace of modern industry" "Yangshupu" to the "city of innovation and entrepreneurship vitality" "Digital Yangpu," the change of one character represents our district's 20-year journey of innovation and transformation. Against the backdrop of accelerating the construction of an innovation-oriented modern industrial system dominated by the digital economy, how will our district achieve the "vigorous leap" of accelerating the cultivation of new quality productive forces?

Drawing a Large Map of the Industrial Economy

Since the "11th Five-Year Plan," our district has continuously deepened the advantageous fields of the digital economy by laying out new-generation information technology industries such as electronic information, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, benchmarking the city's industrial map.

In the process of comprehensively enhancing the competitiveness of the innovation industry, our district has actively built a digital economy industrial system, and the development speed of relevant industries has been rapid. As of now, the total number of digital economy enterprises in our district has exceeded 7,000, widely distributed in fields such as industrial design, cloud native, industrial Internet, fintech, and others. Among them, the digital economy represented by the software and information service industry has maintained double-digit growth for five consecutive years, with revenue reaching RMB 260 billion in 2023, an increase of 18.7%.

It is no exaggeration to say that through the development in recent years, our district's digital economy has accumulated momentum. In the future, Yangshupu may transform into "Digital Yangpu."

In 2021, Paper Games moved into Building B of Creative International at No. 38 Zhenggao Road, Yangpu, acquiring an independent office building and ushering in the golden age of enterprise development. In March this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook walked into this building to visit Paper Games, writing down his feelings about the trial play of the game produced by Paper Games on his personal social media: "Exquisite visuals and smooth experience," making this local game company hugely popular "outside the circle."

In addition to the "five-star rating" given by tech giants, in fact, within the gaming circle, this new-type Internet culture enterprise established in 2013 has long been renowned. It has had in-depth collaborations with cultural and artistic institutions such as UNESCO, the Palace Museum, Suzhou Museum, and Nanjing Yunjin Research Institute, incorporating traditional Chinese culture into game products, exporting products to more than 30 countries and regions overseas. Its produced Nikki series and Love and Producer series games are leaders in female-oriented games, with excellent data performance such as download volume and ratings on the App Store. In particular, the 3D otome game "Love and Deep Space" released in January this year topped the free chart for a long time after its launch, stably ranking in the top 20 of the App Store's bestseller chart in the first month, reaching TOP2 twice, and breaking RMB 500 million in revenue in the first month of the Chinese server's public test.

In early February this year, Apple announced the launch of its first mixed reality (MR) head-mounted display device, Vision Pro. Paper Games quickly followed up by announcing the "Love and Deep Space" Apple Vision Pro version project, allowing players to experience gaming beyond screen limitations. This also became an opportunity for Cook to have friendly exchanges with the Paper Games team during his visit to China. "This is an innovative and diverse company, and its game products have certain characteristics and are constantly trying innovation and technology iteration," Cook commented on-site.

As a game enterprise, Paper Games, on the one hand, takes creation as its core, valuing the importance of content and the significant meaning of games as cultural carriers. On the other hand, it also adheres to technology-driven development, constantly exploring how to empower game development with the latest technology. The relevant person in charge of Paper Games believes that the growth of an enterprise's innovation power is inseparable from the fertile soil provided by the GKIC Park. "Under the integration of the cultural and technological ecosystem, the GKIC Park has created a high-quality industrial ecosystem, providing a very good environment and atmosphere for Paper Games' settlement, industry gathering, and enterprise exchange. It has also given Paper Games a good boost in exploring the use of games as a carrier for technological innovation and cultural dissemination," said the person in charge.

Covering an area of 8.2 square kilometers, more than 4,500 innovation-type enterprises of all sizes are growing here, and more than 170,000 people are starting businesses, working, and living here. In the GKIC Innovation Development Demonstration Zone, there is an innovation ecosystem of cultural creativity and network technology everywhere, between upstairs and downstairs, and next door to each other. An interconnected upstream and downstream industrial chain has taken shape, and business collaborations seem to be "at your fingertips."

Relying on leading enterprises like Paper Games, GKIC actively attracts upstream and downstream enterprises to further gather, introducing MCN institution Wuyou Media to provide services for KOLs; Huayun Data settled in to provide computing power support for online e-commerce and live-streaming; there are also technology empowerment parties like Vland, SHEENCITY, and ARK that create possibilities for online and offline parallel worlds. Through enterprise exchange meetings, project subcontracting collaborations, and other forms, GKIC encourages park enterprises to get to know each other, share entrepreneurial experiences, and strengthen business exchanges.

In the initial design planning, GKIC hoped to allow enterprises to achieve 'step-by-step growth' here, serving enterprises at different stages with different office space carriers, said the relevant person in charge of Shanghai Yangpu Science and Technology Innovation Group. "The ultimate goal is to gather all the innovation and entrepreneurship resources and elements in the region together."

To create an innovation ecosystem of "all things thriving freely" for the "enterprise galaxy," our district is drawing a large map of the industrial economy.

Building an Ecosystem Chain of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Located in Bay Valley Technology Park, the Shanghai Technology Exchange is a key player in our district's efforts to enable technology to empower industries, help small enterprises start businesses, help large enterprises achieve integration with small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote the deep integration of the innovation chain and industrial chain, as well as the development of scientific and technological innovation. In just a few short years, it has completed technology transaction authentication of RMB 11.2 billion and technology contract amounts of RMB 34.2 billion.

Our district not only has universities but also many research institutes and R&D centers. Our role is to connect the demand for achievement services to industries and even to the capital side, said Zou Shujun, Executive President of the National Technology Transfer Eastern Center. This ecosystem environment is also the reason why the National Technology Transfer Eastern Center values Yangpu and chooses Yangpu.

The innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem chain that our district intends to build is a new path of "full-process innovation," from basic research to innovation acceleration, that is, the entire process "from 0 to 10." "From 0 to 1" is original innovation, and "from 1 to 10" is achievement transformation.

Treating R&D as an industry and treating technology as a commodity. In the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology National University Science and Technology Park, successful entrepreneurship stories are blossoming everywhere. By striving to build a comprehensive service system and innovation ecosystem environment "oriented towards the entire life cycle of technology enterprise development," it has become a comprehensive technology service provider, a builder of enterprise growth ecosystem environments, and a service platform for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

Tingshu Technology is a small and micro enterprise focused on intelligent manufacturing solutions, specializing in providing customized solutions for customers with special requirements. Although it has been established for a short time, Tingshu Technology has grown at a rapid pace, achieving profitability in its first year of entrepreneurship and winning project approval in the highly competitive "Entrepreneurship in Shanghai" innovation and entrepreneurship competition.

In the eyes of Yang Aijun, the person in charge of the enterprise, the open technological resources of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology National University Science and Technology Park have shortened the growth cycle of the enterprise. "Due to the business characteristics, the enterprise has long-term needs for 3D printing, board cutting, laser marking, and other services." Fortunately, the science and technology park where the company is located is backed by the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, and various laboratories and technological equipment are open to small and micro enterprises in the park, solving many growth troubles for start-up enterprises.

Continuously improving the level of operation and management and enhancing the energy level of innovation and entrepreneurship incubation. The University of Shanghai for Science and Technology Science and Technology Park is exploring the innovation development model of "discipline + industry + fund" and "campus + science and technology park + industrial park," promoting the integrated development of innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain, and creating a healthy industrial innovation highland.

In fact, "encouraging large enterprise technology innovation centers, key laboratories, and universities to further open equipment resources and technology service resources, and provide entrepreneurship guidance for small and micro enterprises and college students" has long been written into our district's development plan. From basic innovation in the start-up stage to achievement transformation, and then to the "rainforest"-style innovation ecosystem in the acceleration stage, our district is igniting the engine of scientific and technological innovation and creating a "nuclear explosion point" for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Enabling Talents and Work to Achieve Two-Way Rush

Among the many urban areas in Shanghai, our district is undoubtedly synonymous with youthful vitality.

Here, one out of every four permanent residents is a youthful force aged 18-35. Not only that, our district is home to universities such as Fudan University, Tongji University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, gathering 20% of Shanghai's undergraduate students and 30% of graduate students, with 180,000 eternally young college students. With the rapid development of the digital economy, the characteristics of the urban population becoming younger, more highly educated, and more foreign will become more prominent.

At present, more than 40,000 employees from major companies such as Douyin, Meituan, BILIBILI, and Dewu work in our district, with an average age of 28. As the Yangpu Riverside digital economy headquarters projects are completed one after another, it is expected that more than 100,000 Generation Z youth will be introduced to work here by 2026, injecting vitality and creativity into this land. Technology enterprises provide space for young talents to showcase their skills through rich business landing scenarios, mature training mechanisms, and highly competitive salary systems.

At the same time, our district actively creates a livable and workable environment for talents, provides reassuring and comfortable services, and creates a magnetic field for attracting and gathering talents. Since 2021, our district has accumulatively allocated more than RMB 80 million in talent housing subsidies. "Taking myself as an example, after applying for the relevant preferential policies, I can save about RMB 800 per month on rent," said Ma Xinying, an employee of Agora. The GKIC Park where the company is located has a "service package" system for key enterprises, which lists relevant policies such as talent apartments and rental subsidies in terms of home purchase and rental. "It not only helps enterprises better understand the policy content but also promotes the implementation of policies, bringing more benefits to employees and winning widespread praise from employees."

In 2024, our district will further increase the guarantee of talent housing. At present, the entire district has raised 19,254 housing units (rooms), of which 12,246 units (rooms) have been supplied. The overall location of the housing resources is relatively good, with a variety of housing types, providing a wide range of choices for young talents engaged in innovation and entrepreneurship in our district.

Innovation is the primary driving force leading the economic and social development of our district. Through efforts, our district hopes to achieve four objectives by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan": First, the function of global resource allocation will continue to be strengthened, and a global innovation key element gathering area will be initially built. Second, breakthroughs will be achieved in the function of scientific and technological innovation source, and a core functional carrier area of Shanghai's science and technology innovation center will be fully built. Third, the leading function of high-end industries will be significantly enhanced, and a leading industrial area dominated by the digital economy will be built ahead of schedule. Fourth, the function of the open hub gateway will be greatly improved, and a gathering area of major platforms for open innovation will be basically built.