On the afternoon of April 15, “Project of Business Initiation and Development in Qingdao” was officially launched at Laoshan Campus of QUST. The Project was sponsored by Qingdao Municipal Government and the Torch Center of Ministry of Science and Technology, undertaken by QUST and Government of Lanshan District and co-organized by QUST National University Science Park. Zhang Xinqi, Deputy secretary and Mayor of Qingdao, sent his letter of congratulation. Before the ceremony, Gaoqing, Party Secretary of QUST, met with Wang Xiaofang, Deputy Mayor of Qingdao, Yang Yuecheng, Vice-Director of Torch Center of Ministry of Science and Technology and others. Ma Lianxiang, president of QUST, Wang Weiping, Deputy Secretary-General of Qingdao Municipal Government, and Jiang Bo, Director of Science and Technology Bureau of Qingdao attended the launching ceremony.

At the ceremony, Wang Xiaofang and Yang Yuecheng made speeches respectively. Yang Yuecheng announced that “Project of Business Initiation and Development in Qingdao” will be brought into the demonstration project of “Entrepreneurship in China”. Science and Technology Bureau of Qingdao explained the content of the demonstration project, announced the first batch of “Maker Space” units of Qingdao. Eight representatives from different industries read out their declarations of entrepreneurship.

After the ceremony, Guo Jiaxue, Chairman of Dongsheng Science and Technology Co. Ltd, He Chang, the founder of “Huang Taiji” and Mai Gang, Chairman of China Youth Angel Club, shared their experience of entrepreneurship with the “makers” around the themes of “The Internet plus”, transformations of traditional catering industry and Internet bubble and opportunity. After the experience-sharing session, five local start-ups gave the road show to the investors, including many members of China Youth Angel Club.

More than eight hundred people attended the ceremony. They are leaders from every district government of Qingdao, management committee of High-tech Zone, core area management committee of Blue Silicon Valley, related departments of Qingdao, and universities in Qingdao, corresponding leaders of scientific research institutions, incubators, venture investment institutions and college students .

It is known that carrying out “Project of Business Initiation and Development in Qingdao ” is not only a practical action of Qingdao to implement “the move of venturing in China” but also a specific measure to implement the development strategy driven by innovation. Around the implementation of development strategy driven by innovation, aiming at building National Venture Ecological Benchmark City, with the main line of using business incubators to improve quality and efficiency of innovative development, the project will carry out five projects, including business starter cultivation, entrepreneurial carrier upgrading, entrepreneurial finance upgrading, service platform network, entrepreneurial culture of demonstration. The project will strengthen the institutional innovation, optimize the ecological environment for innovation and entrepreneurship, build up “Maker Space”, lower the threshold of business registration, stimulate entrepreneurial vitality, and promote innovation of technology, market and business model. By 2020, Qingdao will build an entrepreneurial ecosystem with rich elements, multiple subjects, efficient platforms, perfect services, developed markets, prosperous culture, and form a high-quality, specialized and professional service team with more than one thousand enterprise tutors and one thousand entrepreneurial service institutions. Relying on the project, Qingdao will form a “Maker Body” represented by university student entrepreneurs, intellectual entrepreneurs, spin-off entrepreneurs and overseas entrepreneurs and will have more than ten thousand technological entrepreneurs and more than five thousand start-ups in emerging industries. Qingdao will build a number of professional incubators and innovative incubators and form an entrepreneurial incubator chain and gathering areas for “Maker Space” with entrepreneurial carriers reaching three hundred. With active angel investors reaching five thousand, newly-founded angel investment and venture capital exceeding one hundred, Qingdao will form multi-level financing service system and provide financial services for more than five thousand start-ups and have more than eight hundred listed companies in the “ NEEQ”, “Qi Lu Equity Trading Center” and Qingdao Lanhai Equity Trading Center.

(Translated by Liu Min)