The 2025 Central Economic Work Conference proposed building international science and technology innovation centers in Beijing (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region), Shanghai [Yangtze River Delta, (YRD)], and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Regional development has shifted from “isolated breakthroughs” led by core cities to coordinated growth centered on urban cluster innovation communities and integrated regional development.
As a source of original innovation, the expanded Shanghai (YRD) Science and Technology Innovation Center leverages Shanghai’s leading role to speed up the commercialization of breakthroughs in fundamental research and cutting-edge industrial sectors. A standout example is the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Through years of continuous institutional and mechanism reforms, SIOM leads cutting-edge fields and nearly eliminates the time lag between scientific and industrial innovation.
A brand-new optoelectronic industrial incubator adjacent to CAS SIOM hosts ongoing product tests for laser communication devices. These devices will be installed on satellites in low Earth orbit, more than 1,000 kilometers above the planet, to enable inter-satellite communications. Each satellite orbits Earth every 90 minutes at a speed 80 times that of high-speed trains. Invisible thin laser beams facilitate data transmission between spacecraft. Without technology transfer and commercialization, mass production of this sophisticated hardware would have been unachievable.
Dong Wei, Deputy General Manager of Advanced Optic Communication Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., said, “During technology transfer and commercialization, we translate SIOM’s design drawings and research experience into corporate process documents and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every workstation. We overcame numerous hurdles through extensive trial and error.”
CAS SIOM has developed a comprehensive incubation model that introduces its technological achievements to specialized incubators initiated by the institute. The incubator houses full-chain expert teams covering finance, management, human resources, legal affairs, marketing and other fields. These specialists assist research teams in analyzing market demand, defining product development roadmaps, and matching critical industrial resources.
Zhang Long, Director of CAS SIOM, remarked, “The industrial translation of scientific achievements resembles a speedboat navigating a channel full of hidden reefs. We avoid forcing scientists to crash into obstacles or sink their projects blindly. Instead, we predict risks in advance. Our mission is to help researchers steer their innovations from laboratory to market by mapping out routes to bypass pitfalls. We call this a standardized, specialized, modular and customized incubation support system.”
In March last year, Lyu Xudong, a young researcher at CAS SIOM, founded a company based on cutting-edge neutral atom quantum computing technology. Empowered by SIOM’s support, both scientific and industrial innovation accelerated in tandem.
Lyu Xudong, Research Fellow at CAS SIOM, explained, “Internationally, building a neutral atom quantum computing setup usually takes several years. We completed ours within months, setting a new world record.”
To date, CAS SIOM has incubated more than 70 hard-core optoelectronics commercialization projects across the YRD. An optoelectronic industrial cluster rooted in Shanghai and radiating across China and the globe is taking rapid shape.
Chain-based collaboration: The YRD builds smart innovation consortiums
A core competitive advantage of Shanghai (YRD) as a global innovation hub lies in well-defined cross-regional division chains across key industries. Instead of homogeneous cutthroat competition, the region fosters industrial communities with mutual collaboration, resource empowerment and strong alliances. Following the expansion of the Shanghai International Science and Technology Innovation Center to cover the full YRD, links within these industrial communities have grown tighter.
A newly completed robotics testing base in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, runs stress tests on diverse robots before delivery. These machines vary in shape and function, yet all rely on an intelligent control system as their core “brain”.
Ye Yangsheng, Co-founder of an intelligent technology firm, stated, “We conquered the most sophisticated core technology – the robot brain. Drawing on the YRD’s complete supply chain and partnering with dozens of collaborators, we manufacture full robotic systems to meet industrial demand across all sectors.”
At the firm’s R&D center in Shanghai, staff demonstrated a customized robotic assembly system. Users select functional modules, match hardware components and pick design styles to assemble factory robots like building blocks. The system can generate more than 2,000 distinct product models.
Ding Xia, Vice President of the intelligent technology enterprise, added, “Our platform ecosystem centers on robot brain technology. It supports over 400 mainstream core robotic components, of which more than 60% are supplied by manufacturers within the YRD.”
Currently, the YRD hosts 26 national-level advanced manufacturing clusters. To streamline cross-regional supply chain cooperation, the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission advances a science and technology supply chain platform. Haizhi Online stands out as its flagship intelligent manufacturing agent. On this platform, global manufacturing clients submit a sentence, a blueprint or a demand brief to locate matching suppliers and technical solutions. Recently, the intelligent system connected a domestic vacuum flask manufacturer with an overseas buyer specializing in aerospace water storage equipment.
Xu Xiang, Co-founder of Haizhi Online, commented, “Both factories master deep drawing forming technology; they only differ in target industries. Supported by our digital platform, the workshop fulfilled the aerospace order. Its profit margin jumped from 10% on original orders to 60% on the high-value aerospace contract. Digital platforms help manufacturers redefine their core capabilities and secure premium business opportunities.”
The G60 Science and Innovation Corridor: Weaving a nationwide innovation network
Expanding Shanghai’s international innovation center to cover four provincial-level regions in the YRD enables deeper cross-city collaboration on spatial development, resource coordination and complementary advantages. The recently launched satellite constellation project illustrates how this collaborative framework operates.
Earlier this month, the 11th group of Qianfan Polar Orbit Satellites successfully lifted off. Nicknamed “China’s Starlink”, the Qianfan Constellation is a national low-Earth-orbit internet satellite project planned to deploy tens of thousands of spacecraft. Less widely known, the constellation also bears the alias “G60 Starlink”. Its lead operator, Yuanxin Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., is based in the Songjiang section of the G60 Science and Innovation Corridor. Driven by this space infrastructure initiative, a mature commercial aerospace industrial chain stretches across nine cities along the corridor anchored by the G60 Expressway. A fully automated satellite production line, a short drive from Yuanxin Satellite, rolls out new spacecraft daily.
A one-hour drive from Shanghai leads to Hangzhou, home to Dongfanghong Tianxuan Aerospace Store – a one-stop marketplace for space hardware.
Its inventory ranges from propulsion and optical systems to newly stocked flexible solar wings. Backed by the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), the store stocks 342 types of satellite standalone units, subassemblies and full logistics support services. Previously, buyers traveled nationwide to source commercial aerospace parts; today, all supplies and services are available under one roof, drawn by the YRD’s robust commercial aerospace market demand.
Sang Yi, Deputy Director of CAST Hangzhou Center, said, “We established manufacturing facilities in Hangzhou five years ago. The rapid rollout of satellite internet constellations has drastically boosted industrial demand. Clients frequently inquire about product availability, suppliers and delivery cycles. Instead of escorting every customer to separate factories, we launched this integrated store to showcase all aerospace products and supporting services in one location.”
Beyond commercial aerospace, the nine-city alliance of the G60 Science and Innovation Corridor coordinates development in artificial intelligence (AI), integrated circuits, biomedicine and other high-tech sectors. Collectively, these nine cities host 13% of China’s high-tech enterprises and 20% of all STAR Market-listed firms. The corridor fuels Shanghai (YRD)’s development into a globally influential innovation hub.
Chen Chao, Deputy Director of the Joint Conference Office for the YRD G60 Science and Innovation Corridor, explained, “Cross-city collaboration used to be fragmented and ad hoc. Today, cooperation operates on a regular, institutionalized basis. Balancing effective market mechanisms and proactive government governance, we extend industrial strengths and expand joint cooperation roadmaps across the innovation ecosystem.”
Two-way integration: Parallel progress of scientific and industrial innovation
Hard data tells the full story. Covering less than 4% of China’s land area, the YRD generates nearly one-quarter of the country’s total economic output. Its total research and development (R&D) expenditure and other key innovation indicators account for roughly one-third of the national aggregate. A complete innovation chain is accelerating across the delta – spanning original breakthroughs from “0 to 1” and large-scale industrial scaling from “1 to N”.
Following the official expansion of Shanghai’s international science and technology innovation center to the full YRD, cities have shifted from comparative competition to coordinated group operations within unified innovation consortiums. The two-way integration of scientific research and industrial commercialization empowers the YRD to write a landmark regional growth narrative. It also serves as a vivid real-world example of innovation-driven development under China’s path to modernization.