China draws buzz aplenty at tech show
Global technology leaders and investors who gathered at North America’s fastest-growing tech conference showed great interest in the Chinese market and the prospects for technical cooperation.
As one of the largest international technology conferences, Collision 2022 in Toronto brought together more than 35,000 people, including 900 speakers and 850 investors, as well as representatives of 1,500 startups and 100 unicorn companies. Running from June 20-23, it was the first in-person staging of the show since the pandemic began; the prior two events were held online.
Andrew Sanden, co-founder and chief executive of Intrinsic Innovations, said China’s tech innovation scene is accelerating, and his clients are eager to resume business as usual with Chinese partners.
“COVID-19 has shown the importance of partner relationships. It is very important to have established business cooperation with China before and after the pandemic,” Sanden told China Daily in the event’s investor lounge.
“If you already have a trust relationship in China, then you can still do business.”
As an advisory company helping tech startups transit their technologies into business, Intrinsic Innovations has partnered with Chinese TusStar, a business incubator that has established more than 150 incubation bases in China.
Sanden said his company offers consulting services and mentoring programs in Canada and China. He highlights a Canadian startup focused on the medical industry.
Opportunity valued
“It’s at a very early stage, but it could be a very good opportunity to go to China to develop its business in the healthcare industry,” he said.
Despite the diplomatic discord of recent years resulting from the detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a US extradition request, business between Canada and China is still being conducted, Sanden said.
Pietro Goglia, an Italian deputy trade commissioner, told China Daily that China is important to Italy, and the nations have never stopped cooperating during the pandemic.
“We work a lot with China; China is so important to us,” Goglia said at the Italian booth, one of the 130 national, regional and local trade delegations that attended Collision.
“We have collaborations with China in the areas of high-tech manufacturing, agricultural products and clean energy,” said Goglia.
Rather than focusing on technology behemoths, the conference sought to bring the most promising early-stage startups, according to Katherine Farrell, director of communications for Web Summit, the parent company of Collision.
“We really focus on the next-generation startups that are going to be the future unicorns and who are reshaping the world we live in today,” Farrell said.
A number of Chinese-involved startups attended the event to showcase their technologies and connect with potential customers and investors. Zhou Haoliang, chief executive of Mech Solutions, a Chinese-led startup, said its technology attracted investors at the conference.
Paddy Cosgrave, the co-founder and CEO of Collision and Web Summit, told the media that China is rapidly developing in the artificial intelligence space, in quantum computing and in electric vehicles, which could lead to more innovative competition in the world.