The HICOOL 2025 Global Entrepreneur Summit, themed “Create a Global Hub of Innovation and Startups,” recently opened in Beijing. Yin Li, Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, attended the opening ceremony and delivered remarks. Yin Yong, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Mayor of Beijing, and You Jun, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, were also in attendance.
The summit focused on four key elements: technological innovation, industrial integration, international cooperation, and youth power. It aims to create a high-quality, international, and integrated “Global Entrepreneurs’ Carnival.” This year’s event attracted 10,055 startup programs and 13,150 entrepreneurial talents from 139 countries and regions, marking the first time that both program submissions and participant numbers exceeded 10,000. Since its inception, the HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit has drawn 45,000 entrepreneurial talents and 34,000 startup programs from 167 countries and regions worldwide, nurturing 16 unicorn enterprises and 197 specialized, sophisticated and innovative enterprises.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Yin Li noted that momentous changes unseen in a century are accelerating across the world, and a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is profoundly evolving. Beijing, a modern metropolis where tradition meets modernity, is an open, inclusive, and vibrant hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. The city has a comprehensive education system, robust sci-tech capabilities, and a rich pool of human resources. With highly vigorous innovation entities and excellent conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship, sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), the digital economy, and biomedicine are developing rapidly and hold vast potential. For the present and coming period, Beijing will step up the pace of building itself into an international innovation center and a hub for high-caliber talent, aiming to foster a world-class ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship. Beijing stands ready to work with all stakeholders to further unleash the potential of innovators and entrepreneurs and promote integrated development across education, sci-tech, and talent. Efforts will also be made to support deeper collaboration among enterprises, universities, and research institutions and provide a broad platform for global innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovation and entrepreneurship scenarios will be further expanded by leveraging Zhongguancun as a world-leading sci-tech park and Beijing as a global benchmark city for the digital economy. Application scenarios in advanced manufacturing, daily consumption, education and healthcare, and urban governance will be gradually opened to the public, offering greater space for new technologies, products, and solutions to be applied and to grow. Beijing will continue to optimize the innovation and entrepreneurship environment by enhancing the service system for technology commercialization, strengthening intellectual property protection, making full use of the Beijing Stock Exchange, and encouraging patient capital to invest in early-stage and small ventures for the long-term. Beijing will strive to build a market-oriented, law-based, accessible business climate in keeping with international standards. Further efforts will be made to deepen the open cooperation in innovation and entrepreneurship by building more platforms for international exchange and collaboration. Through enhancing mutual learning and sharing development opportunities, we are committed to enabling innovators and entrepreneurs from across China and around the world to realize their dreams.
Xu Qingsen, Vice Minister of Education, and Gérard Mourou, Laureate of Nobel Prize in Physics, also delivered speeches. The opening ceremony featured the awards ceremony of the Global Entrepreneurship Competition and the inauguration of the International Advanced Laser Alliance. Additionally, it marked the launch of the overseas university technology commercialization base and the unveiling of a “one-stop” service platform for international talent innovation and entrepreneurship.
Prior to the ceremony, the attending leaders toured exhibition areas of world-class universities, clusters of technology firms, exemplary incubators and specialized industrial parks, international talent services, global venture capital institutions, and ecosystem collaborations. They also saw the showcase of award-winning programs from the Global Entrepreneurship Competition and the latest sci-tech achievements and startup programs from China and abroad, and engaged in in-depth discussions with innovators and entrepreneurs.
The event was attended by leaders from relevant central government departments, Beijing Municipality and related universities; heads of international organizations, universities and research bodies; officials from relevant municipal departments and districts; as well as Chinese and foreign experts, scholars, and corporate representatives.
