Sino-Israeli innovation hub brings better roads

WORK has started on roads near the new innovation hub for Chinese and Israeli hightech companies to improve traffic flow and spruce up the environment.

The first phase of the ChinaIsrael innovation hub in Putuo District is part of a national agreement between the two. Work on four roads and a major thoroughfare should be completed on March 10.

Greenbelts are being created along Dunhuang, Qilianshan, Wuwei E., Yongdeng and Zhennan roads. Improvements are planned to expand vehicle lanes and move overhead cables underground. Paths around the hub will be paved with granite.

The roads formerly served Taopu industrial zone, one of the first chemical industry parks in Shanghai, dating back to the 1950s.

About 7,500 square meters of historical buildings will house the first enterprises. The structure of the Soviet-style buildings in Qilianshan Road will be reinforced but their appearance retained.

The Sino-Israel hub will be officially launched by the end of March, Putuo announced yesterday. As part of the partnership agreed by the China and Israel governments during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Beijing in March 2017, the hub will support technology transactions and service trade.

The district plans to first invite law firms, IPR protection institutes, investment foundations and accounting firms to serve future high-tech companies from both countries.

Twenty-eight Israeli startups selected in a contest late last year are seeking local investment and cooperation. About 300 Israeli enterprises registered for the competition.