The China-Switzerland Innovation and Entrepreneurship Cooperation Launch Conference was held in Changzhou National Hi-Tech District on October 21 in a move to further strengthen the strategic partnership on innovation between Switzerland and China and implement the spirit of the Joint Statement on Strengthening Science and Innovation Cooperation signed by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research.
Sino-Swiss (Changzhou) Innovation Park was established in 2018 and sponsored jointly by Torch High Technology Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the International Economic and Technical Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the municipal government of Changzhou as a provincial-level international cooperation park. The park is committed to serving as the industry cluster and center of innovation for the production of intelligent equipment, carbon fiber composite materials as well as biomedical and medical devices. To date, working factories and production lines already occupy some 270,000 square meters of the approximately 670,000 square meters allocated to the park. Since its opening in 2019, the companies operating in the park have made innovation, intelligence and environmental sustainability part of the mission, as these are all areas strongly supported by the governments of China and Switzerland and are of growing importance to leading Swiss and German companies. A large number of industry leaders from the two countries have chosen the park for their Chinese operations, including Medela, SID, COTESA, Lanz Manufaktur and Leoni. The park has been approved as a provincial-level international cooperation park, putting it on the path to becoming a high-end platform for the furthering of China’s opening up policies as well as for extended cooperation with the city of Changzhou and even the whole of Jiangsu province.
An Lei, director of the International Department of Torch High Technology Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology, succinctly summed up what had taken place at the event when he said that the China-Switzerland Innovation and Entrepreneurship Cooperation is proving to be a beneficial move for cross-border cooperation between science parks and reflects the general trend of global opening up and innovation. He continued: “I hope that after the meeting, the executives from Chinese and Swiss science parks who joined the meeting can earnestly summarize the information and situation exchanged today so that we can further explore next steps, establish working links with each other, and extensively carry out regular, multi-level and comprehensive exchanges and collaborations. We also look forward to a collaborative effort between China’s and Switzerland’s science parks that can take a deeper look at an effective model for international cooperation, setting a benchmark and example for future exchanges and collaborations among the world’s science parks.
