Experts, officials from 23 countries focus on innovation in Shanghai

Scientists, entrepreneurs and officials from 23 countries and regions were in Shanghai over the weekend to share their views on science and technological innovation at the Pujiang Innovation Forum.

The forum, which opened on Saturday, has been co-hosted since 2008 by the Shanghai government and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Li Qiang, Party chief of Shanghai, said that global innovation has been active because of international and interdisciplinary collaboration, and Shanghai will open major science facilities for international cooperation as much as it can, striving for original discoveries and major breakthroughs.

The city is focusing its innovation efforts on chips, artificial intelligence and biomedicine, and will provide more market access for foreign enterprises and better intellectual property protection, Li said.

Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology, stressed people-centered innovation, drawing examples from technological achievements used in targeted poverty alleviation efforts and sustainable development.

Singapore is this year's country of honor, and Heng Swee Keat, its deputy prime minister, gave a keynote speech at the opening ceremony introducing innovations in Singapore in waste treatment, water recycling and indoor vegetable farming and expressed Singapore's willingness to cooperate with Shanghai.

A plan to build a national pilot zone in Shanghai for next-generation artificial intelligence was also announced at the forum. The new zone will focus on fundamental research in artificial intelligence, such as brain-inspired intelligence and intelligent unmanned systems, and will aim to become a global center of AI theory, application and talent by 2023.

The forum included 15 different subforums, each dealing with an aspect of innovation, such as entrepreneurship, innovative city clusters and international technology transfers.

A joint laboratory of smart healthcare between Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Stanford University was unveiled at the subforum on AI-powered healthcare. Wang Yanfeng, co-chair of the lab, said the first project is called Super Assistant to Doctors and aims to assist doctors and nurses in such area as diagnosis and ICU monitoring.

At the subforum on scitech financing, Liao Shiguang, deputy director of the Capital Market Research Institute of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, shared the latest updates on the coming Tech Innovation Board.

To date, of the 111 companies that have applied to be listed on the board, around 70 percent are information technology and pharmaceutical firms. About 91 percent of those are profitable, said Liao.