经济新闻
上海Y50创新创业论坛为初创企业提供支持 2026-05-10
Shanghai is building a supportive environment for young entrepreneurs from around the world as part of efforts to become a global center for science and innovation, Yicai learned at the seventh Shanghai Y50 Forum for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The forum brought together leading international scholars and entrepreneurs such as Nobel Prize-winning chemist Michael Levitt for in-depth exchanges with young founders. It also featured a series of showcase projects in integrated circuits, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and other hard-tech fields.
“Entrepreneurs need a nurturing environment so as to take root and grow,” Shen Yichen, founder and chief executive of AI chip developer Xizhi Technology, said at the forum in Shanghai today.
“Government-guided funds in Shanghai and a group of forward-looking investment institutions dared to invest even when we only had one prototype,” Shen said. “As the company began to move toward commercialization, our investors continued to help us connect with reliable partners through resource matching.”
Shen, 37, earned a physics doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then returned to China to set up Xizhi, which has now become a leading supplier of optical-electrical hybrid computing. The Shanghai-based company went public in Hong Kong on April 28, raising HKD2.5 billion (USD319 million).
When it came to the reason why he chose Shanghai as the base for his company, Shen said the city has China’s most complete industrial chain for integrated circuits and the most concentrated AI application scenarios. He added that Shanghai’s policy support for IC firms has also made it easier to attract talent, advance research and development, and achieve technological breakthroughs.
His thoughts were echoed by Nan Yi, founder and chairman of new energy conglomerate Wontai Investment Group. After graduating from Oxford University, he returned to China and established new energy power station operator Universal Energy and energy storage battery developer Wontai Power in Shanghai.
“Shanghai has strong hard power as well as distinctive soft power,” Nan said. “In the World Bank’s business environment survey published last year, Shanghai ranked among the world’s best in 22 areas. A favorable business environment has become one of Shanghai’s most recognizable features as an international metropolis and has also created a healthy ecosystem for private-sector growth.”
The Shanghai Y50 Forum for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is an annual flagship event launched in 2020 to establish the coastal Chinese city as a premier global hub for young talent.
On May 10's event, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, in collaboration with several other institutions, launched the “5+50” seed fund, which includes a CNY500 million (USD73.5 million) equity investment capacity and a CNY5 billion supporting credit fund. The fund will focus on investing in nascent technology projects in fields such as AI, IC, and biomedicine.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University also took the lead in establishing the Shanghai University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Community at the forum, aiming to break down barriers among universities and colleges and build an innovation ecosystem for young people centered on “education exchange, capital support, incubation collaboration, and technology transfer.”
Source: Yicai Global
