Sino-Israel innovation hub takes shape

THE China-Israel Innovation Hub will be officially launched in Putuo District in December as both countries step up scientific innovation collaboration.

The Shanghai government will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Israel Innovation Authority on December 5 and both sides will jointly launch the innovation hub. An expert panel featuring scientists and professionals from both countries will be established to offer guidance, Gu Jun, deputy director of Putuo, told the annual Suzhou Creek Forum yesterday.

The opening of the innovation hub is a major step in Shanghai’s implementation of a national strategy to promote Chinese and Israeli scientific and technological innovation.

China’s Vice President Wang Qishan signed the China-Israel Innovation Cooperation Action Plan (2018-2021) during a visit to Israel in October last year.

Over 200 participants from the city and district political advisory bodies, government offices, higher education institutions and companies took part in yesterday’s forum to share proposals on the hub.

The construction of the innovation hub offers new support for Shanghai’s ambition to build a scientific innovation center of global influence as well as offers opportunities for Putuo’s innovative development, said Dong Yunhu, chairman of the CPPCC Shanghai Committee, the city’s top political advisory body.

Zhou Minhao, Putuo’s director, promised to set up an open institution and regulation for the hub with free exchanges of talent, funds and big data to encourage innovation and research.

The hub is within the Taopu Smart City, a former industrial park being developed into a high-end business district featuring the latest technologies, green environment and innovation.

The hub is expected to make

Putuo’s Taopu on a par with Pudong’s Zhangjiang Technology City as a key hub for the city’s development as a technology and innovation center.

The first phase of the innovation hub has been completed on the former site of Shanghai’s prestigious Hero pen factory, which dates back to the 1930s, Gu revealed.

It offers 1,500 square meters of exhibition space and service center, another 1,500 square meters of support facilities and 4,500 square meters of office space.

The park can be further expanded to other sites at the smart city based on demand, the Putuo government said.