The 2024 Zhongguancun International Technology Trade Fair opens in Beijing on Thursday. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Eleven deals were signed at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Zhongguancun International Technology Trade Fair in Beijing on Thursday, marking a fruitful start to the global technology trading event.

Of them, four technology transfer contracts were inked between universities and tech companies. They included assisted reproductive technology achievements in freezing and thawing solutions developed by Peking University Third Hospital; adaptive antenna array technology for satellite navigation signal reception and GNSS satellite navigation receiver technology developed by Beijing Institute of Technology; oral smart biometric diagnosis and treatment technology from Peking University School of Stomatology; and an innovative traditional Chinese medicine project from Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

Another four agreements signed on-site focused on investment and financing. Four investors, including Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, Beijing Pharmaceutical and Health Industry Investment Fund, and Beijing Zhongguancun Capital Fund Management, entered into contracts with three tech companies in Beijing and a high-tech industrial equipment manufacturer from Qingdao, Shandong province. They pledged to provide patient capital to industrialize technological achievements. The goal is to foster unicorns in frontier technology industries, according to the event's organizers. A unicorn is a privately held startup company with a valuation of $1 billion or more.

Other agreements were for strategic cooperation, including that between ITOCEC, a high-tech company affiliated with China Electronics Corp, and China Southern Power Grid's EHV Power Transmission Company on an ultrahigh voltage direct current transmission control system transformation project; and collaboration between the China Technology Exchange and the Tianjin Academy of Science and Technology for Development on technological commercialization and sharing technology needs.

Such collaborations signed at the ZGC International Technology Trade Fair underlined the event's role in boosting innovation and ramping up commercialization and industrialization of technological achievements to expand new quality productive forces, organizers said.

Collaborative mechanism

In addition, the ZGC 50 Professionals Forum on the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements was launched at the opening of the trade fair.

With a global perspective in the innovation of industrial technologies, its founders said the collaboration mechanism is dedicated to building a new service system for commercialization and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and creating an open and inclusive innovation ecosystem.

Its members come from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, among others, covering diversified innovative entities such as universities and research institutes; new research institutions; State-owned enterprises; technology companies; investment institutions; sci-tech parks and service organizations.

As the first high-level collaboration mechanism in China specifically designed to promote sci-tech commercialization and industrialization, the forum has gathered influential figures who have made significant contributions to their respective industries.

New releases

The List of Top 100 New Technologies and Products and the List of 100 Best Innovative Technologies for International Cooperation were announced at the opening of the fair. Both lists are well-established brands of the ZGC technology trade fair and have been released for four sessions.

The 2024 editions came after multiple rounds of reviews of project entries collected from more than 40 countries and regions worldwide, organizers said.

The List of Top 100 New Technologies and Products, including full-stack solutions from Chinese chipmaker Moore Threads' KUAE Intelligent Computing Center and an intelligent ultra-sensitive and super-resolution microscope, aims to showcase a group of frontier technologies, promote their transformation into marketable products and improve the global technology trading ecosystem in Zhongguancun.

The List of 100 Best Innovative Technologies for International Cooperation focuses on international technology trade cooperation, selecting high-quality innovative technology projects globally. Nine key projects on the list, including an intelligent biosignal processing chip IC design and R&D platform from South Korea, and using fruit flies to help select personalized medicine and an innovative drug development technology platform from the United Kingdom were introduced on-site.

To promote investment in innovative projects, eight sessions of cutting-edge product debuts and shows have been lined up during the trade fair from April 26 to 29, focusing on artificial intelligence and high-end chips, the metaverse, humanoid robots and other fields.

Additionally, several specialized matchmaking meetings will be held, centered on cutting-edge industries.

Special sessions to boost cooperation with such countries as the UK, Italy, Germany, Finland, Japan and South Korea were also organized for technology trade partnerships, organizers said.

Cooperation platform

As a key part of the annual Zhongguancun Forum, also known as the ZGC Forum, the international technological trade fair has introduced 23,000 innovative projects since its inception in 2020. It provides a cooperation platform integrating releases of frontier technology achievements, supply-demand matchmaking, communication, exhibition and promotion, helping Beijing to grow into a globally influential center for sci-tech commercialization and technology trade.

Comprising 30 events, the 2024 edition has attracted renowned scientists and corporate executives to share their insights into the integration of technological and industrial innovation. Those in attendance included Aaron Ciechanover, Nobel laureate in chemistry, and Kai-Fu Lee, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures.