The exhibition model of the NeuCyber Array BMI System co-developed by Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, and NeuCyber NeuroTech (Beijing) Co at the 2024 Zhongguancun Forum on April 26, 2024. Photo: Tao Mingyang/GT

Foreign investors are seeking deeper participation in China's sci-tech innovation development at the 2024 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum), as the cultivation of  unicorn enterprises and incubation of sci-tech enterprises became hot topics of discussion at sub-forums on Sunday.

Research and development expenditures of companies in the start-up incubator topped 90 billion yuan ($12.68 billion) in 2023, Wang Dehua, an official of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told the World Leading Incubator Forum, a sub-forum at the ZGC Forum.

More than 250,000 companies graduated from incubators in China till 2023, with more than 5,000 becoming listed companies. One-fourth of the companies listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board graduated from incubators, Wang said.

In 2023, the number of entrepreneurial teams in China reached 700,000, marking a 4 percent year-on-year increase and generating 4.9 million jobs. The revenue of incubated enterprises surpassed 1.1 trillion yuan, according to Wang.

Commenting on China's investment prospects in the sci-tech field, Daren Howell, a vice president of Germany-based Springer Nature Research Intelligence, told the Global Times on Sunday that there is clear evidence showing that the China market is very attractive for foreign investment, and investment from across the world is flowing into China. 

"Collaboration, trade ... those things drive benefits for everyone. The more that we trade, the more that we collaborate," he said, adding that commercializing the findings of research and innovation will benefit more people.

Vladimir Norov, chairman of the Central Asian Association for Artificial Intelligence, former secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and former foreign minister of Uzbekistan, said that it was impressive that China had achieved a modernized and industrialized economy in such a short time. The same process took centuries for some developed countries. 

He stated that China has a leading technical level for artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, cloud computing and robots, and the commercialization of these technologies in China made them more attractive for foreign investment. 

"China is open to share these achievements and its experience with our countries. I think all countries can benefit from this experience and use it to develop their own countries," said Norov.

The Steinbeis Foundation, one of the largest sci-tech innovation service institutions in Europe, is actively participating in the ZGC Forum to find more opportunities to invest in the China market. 

Steinbeis has always attached great importance to the China market. The ZGC Forum shows that Beijing has become a world headquarters for high technologies like AI and robotics, like New York or Berlin, Johann Löhn, former president and honorary chairman of the Steinbeis Foundation told the Global Times.

Steinbeis in February established a subsidiary in Beijing and signed an agreement with the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, hoping to further participate in the development of sci-tech innovation in China, with a focus on areas including health, green energy, digital healthcare and electric vehicles.

Li Daokui, director of Tsinghua University's Academic Center for Chinese Economic Practice and Thinking, stated on a sub-forum at the ZGC Forum on Sunday that China has favorable conditions for the vigorous development of unicorn companies.

China has high capital stock, high research and development investment and a continuously improving policy environment, Li said.