Technological innovation, the rise of the Greater Bay Area (new era, new journey, new great cause)
The Hong Kong Science Park, located along the coast of Tolo Harbor in Pak Shek Kok, Shatin, New Territories, is a place where "miracles" are incubated.
The world's first face recognition algorithm that surpasses the recognition ability of human eyes, a test kit that can screen out Alzheimer's patients with just a drop of blood, a sampling execution device for Chang'e 5, a porous laparoscopic surgical robot... many frontiers The achievements of innovation tell the story of "speed and passion" in the field of science and technology innovation in Hong Kong.
As the largest science and technology research and development and business incubation base in Hong Kong, more than 1,100 companies and more than 17,000 technology practitioners gather here. Well-known scientific research institutions and universities at home and abroad continue to set up laboratories.
On June 30, 2022, President Xi Jinping visited the Hong Kong Science Park and exchanged cordially with academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, scientific researchers, and representatives of young innovation and technology enterprises in Hong Kong.
Xi Jinping emphasized that it is hoped that Hong Kong will give full play to its own advantages, gather global innovation resources, perfectly integrate with mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, strengthen innovation collaboration between industry, academia and research, and strive to build a global technological innovation highland.
Funds cross the river, institutions cross the river, and talents cross the river.
Today, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Science and Technology Innovation Track presses the "accelerator button", and a new atmosphere of innovation, coordination, green, open, and shared development is surging everywhere.
Batch after batch of "heavy weapons of the country" have taken root in the Greater Bay Area:
"It's so convenient to do experiments at your doorstep"
Dalang Town, Dongguan, Guangdong, Songshan Lake Science City.
There used to be a lychee forest, but now there is a "neutron factory".
"In a few years, it will not be an accident to meet world-class scientists by the Songshan Lake." Chen Hesheng, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief director of the China Spallation Neutron Source Project, did not expect that his prediction a few years ago would soon become a reality.
There is a research platform dreamed of by scientists all over the world - the China Spallation Neutron Source.
It is hidden 13 to 18 meters underground in Dalang Town. It is the scientific project with the largest single investment in China so far, with a total investment of about 2.35 billion yuan. It took 6 and a half years to complete the first phase of the project, covering an area of 40 square meters. The field is large, and the tunnel where the accelerator is installed is more than 600 meters long. It is a well-deserved "national important weapon".
Prior to this, only three countries in the world, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, had such research platforms.
What can a spallation neutron source do?
Chen Hesheng has an image metaphor: "The spallation neutron source is like a 'super microscope', which is an ideal 'probe' for studying the microstructure of material materials. Use it."
Huang Mingxin, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, has been engaged in material research for a long time. In the past, he could only go to Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries to queue up. Now "it is so convenient to do experiments at our doorstep."
Relying on China's spallation neutron source, his team has developed a super-strong and super-tough "super steel", which has amazed the world.
"A sample of 'super steel' with a size of 1 square centimeter and a thickness of 1.5 millimeters can bear a weight of 3 tons. This is equivalent to the weight of an adult Asian elephant." Huang Mingxin said.
Since it was put into operation in August 2018, the spallation neutron source has more than 3,800 registered users worldwide, and has completed more than 800 projects. Attract advanced scientific research institutions, high-tech talents, and foreign scientists to settle in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Not just Dongguan.
In Shenzhen, the supercomputer "Pengcheng Cloud Brain II" led by Pengcheng Laboratory has broken the world record in computing power; in Huizhou, important construction progress has been made in the high-current heavy ion accelerator device and accelerator-driven transmutation system device; in Jiangmen, The neutrino experiment station located 700 meters underground is expected to be put into operation next year, and has attracted 74 research institutions and universities from 19 countries around the world to participate in the construction...
Batches of "national heavyweights" have taken root in the Greater Bay Area, forming a world-class major scientific and technological infrastructure cluster.
The scientific exploration of the unknown world swayed here like ripples.
According to the Global Innovation Index report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou Science and Technology Cluster" ranked second in the Global Innovation Index for three consecutive years, surpassing the San Jose-San Francisco area where Silicon Valley is located.
Emerging companies have settled in the Greater Bay Area:
"Faster product iteration and lower cost"
Catching up basic research and a highly developed industrial base make the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area a promising place for the growth of technological innovation companies.
It has been on the Hurun Global Unicorn Enterprise List for two consecutive years and has been rated as one of the top 50 Chinese technology and robot companies. It only took 5 years from "seed" to "unicorn".
After settling down in the Songshan Lake Robot Base in 2016, Cloud Whale "trot forward" all the way.
The 32-year-old founder and CEO Zhang Junbin said with emotion: "The Greater Bay Area brings us great opportunities!"
Cloud Whale Intelligence was hatched by Li Zexiang and his team.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology professor is the "leader" of the Songshan Lake Robot Base. He has incubated more than 60 technology companies, including a group of "unicorns" or "little unicorns", with a total output value of more than 5 billion yuan. The rate is as high as about 80%.
One of his "cheats" for success is to rely on the sound industrial supply chain system in the Greater Bay Area.
"The success rate of product crowdfunding outside the Greater Bay Area is only 1/4 of that in the Greater Bay Area, and most companies are stuck in the supply chain. As long as there are good ideas and good ideas, the success rate of landing in the Greater Bay Area will be high a lot of."
The world's most complete supply chain system provides an environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. A large number of private enterprises have embarked on the road of transformation and upgrading from OEM, sales, and trade, and have also created a group of young technology entrepreneurs.
"Relying on the unparalleled supply chain in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, entrepreneurs can focus on product development. In the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the product iteration speed is faster and the cost is lower." Zhang Junbin said that in terms of algorithms, Hong Kong universities are relatively In terms of software industrialization, Shenzhen has the fastest speed in the country, while manufacturers in Dongguan can meet the needs of rapid customization in terms of hardware, and the resources of human resources and financial system are also world-class.
In the past 6 years, Cloud Whale has applied for more than 400 technical patents in innovation across multiple fields such as 3D perception, artificial intelligence object recognition, and big data applications.
Similar examples, such as the gathering of stars, illuminate the entire science and technology innovation landscape of the Greater Bay Area.
In 2021, the Greater Bay Area will have more than 50 "unicorn" companies, more than 1,000 industrial incubators and accelerators, and more than 15,000 investment institutions. The total number of high-tech enterprises in 9 cities in the Mainland will reach 57,000, and the R&D expenditure will exceed 360 billion yuan , the number of patent authorizations reached 780,000.
The science and technology innovation industry has also taken root, sprouted and blossomed in Hong Kong and Macau.
"The whole world is in the wave of technology, and technology must become a part of life. Hong Kong has the ability and conditions to promote innovation and technology. This is not an option, but a must." Huang Keqiang, CEO of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, said.
Entrepreneurial young people strive for the Greater Bay Area:
"Creating a new world in the wave of the times"
Hengqin, Zhuhai, Guangdong, which is across the water from Macau, is full of cool breeze and sea charm, and the tide is rushing.
Seven years ago in the summer, Ni Jingyun made up her mind to come to Hengqin to pursue her dream.
This doctor of traditional Chinese medicine from the University of Macau has worked as a senior manager of a state-owned enterprise and as the technical research and development director of an industrial park.
In 2021, after careful consideration, she started a business.
In September last year, Zhuhai Hengqin Aoye Health Technology Co., Ltd. was registered and established.
Ni Jingyun remembers clearly that this is the 51st Macao-funded enterprise in the Guangdong-Macao Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park, and it is also the first stop on her entrepreneurial journey.
At that time, the "Overall Plan for the Construction of the Hengqin Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone" had just been released, and it was clearly stated that "focusing on building a world-class traditional Chinese medicine production base and innovation highland", this is a new opportunity for the development of Hengqin and also a new opportunity for the development of traditional Chinese medicine.
"As a Macao native, I feel that the opportunity of this era is coming. Can I do something better in this wave?" Ni Jingyun said, "I want to combine ancient Chinese medicine with modern technology and use new products Forms, let Chinese medicine health into daily life.” Hengqin is a hot land for doing business and starting a business.
The Guangdong-Macau Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park founded by Ni Jingyun, the park's R&D headquarters building, enterprise service center, GMP pilot test and production platform that meet the certification standards of mainland China and the European Union, etc., and 224 medical and health companies that have registered and settled in the industrial park , more than 4,000 technology-based enterprises together constitute a huge industrial cluster of technological innovation and industry-university-research cooperation in the traditional Chinese medicine industry.
The "Chinese medicine dream" of a group of entrepreneurs is realized here.
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to promote the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, support Hong Kong and Macao to better integrate into the overall development of the country, and play a better role in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
This is a great encouragement to the young people struggling in the Greater Bay Area.
"In the wave of cooperation zone construction and the development of traditional Chinese medicine, I am one of the members who are moving forward bravely, and there are waves behind me pushing you forward." Ni Jingyun sighed.
At present, the company she founded has 5 products on the market, and 7 patents have been applied for scientific research results. She plans to increase research and development efforts, aim at a larger market, and "break a new world in the wave of the times."
In the vast world of the Greater Bay Area, more stories like Ni Jingyun are still being staged.
Qianhai, Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth DreamWorks has accumulatively incubated more than 600 entrepreneurial teams, with a total financing amount of over 2.9 billion yuan; Hengqin, Macao Youth Entrepreneurship Valley is booming, accumulatively incubating nearly 900 enterprises (projects), of which more than 40% It is a Macao enterprise; Nansha, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao (International) Youth Innovation Works gathers more than 100 youth entrepreneurship teams... Each innovation and entrepreneurship base hatches each entrepreneurial plan and at the same time hatches the youth of the Greater Bay Area youth dream.
In this land, there is hope one by one.
Wang Lingxi