Chongqing - Two new spaces will enhance China-Euro cooperation in innovation and entrepreneurship. The Innovation Center Rapperswil in Switzerland, the first offshore incubator for the Sino-Swiss Technopark (SSTP), will break ground in 2025. Additionally, the SSTP France branch is being prepared.

Rendering of The Innovation Center Rapperswil in Switzerland. (Photo/SSTP)

SSTP is an international high-tech park in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, supported by the Swiss Embassy. It offers venues and services to global enterprises in smart manufacturing, biomedical, IT, and other emerging sectors.

The Innovation Center Rapperswil in St. Gallen will offer office spaces, facilities, and business assistance to Swiss companies and start-ups targeting China and Asian companies seeking European branches.

Some European entrepreneurial teams have unique, cutting-edge technologies and are interested in the vast Chinese market. According to Ma Xiuyong, the Operation Director of SSTP, for those underprepared for the international market, the Center will provide indigenous incubation services, leverage SSTP resources to conduct preliminary works such as market research and help them gain a solid foothold when entering China. 

SSTP connects government, universities, associations, capital, and industry, offering incubation services from sci-tech commercialization to production, operations, and market expansion.

In 2018, the Park launched the Sino-Swiss Business Incubation Competition (SSBIC) for entrepreneurial teams to showcase their technologies. The annual competition offers free service packages to winners and resource matchmaking with experts and investors.

Sphere Tech, a Swiss XR software developer and SSBIC winner, established its China headquarters in SSTP. Its spatial collaboration solutions enhance business outcomes for manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and other sectors globally.

Chongqing has a long-rooted business culture and spirit of innovation, and its solid industrial base provides sufficient application scenarios for the latest technologies, which will benefit innovation and entrepreneurship, said Li Zhe, general manager of Sphere Tech China. Currently, the Chongqing office serves top-notch companies such as Lenovo and is looking to expand into the local market.

To date, more than 600 teams have participated in the competition. Of them, nearly 100 SMEs received matchmaking services, and more than 30 projects secured a local foothold.

Ma emphasized the importance of a holistic approach for entrepreneurial success, "Entrepreneurship is like a jigsaw puzzle, where technologies, management, manufacturing, and market are indispensable pieces in the picture, and we intend to bring together all the pieces to complete the picture and enable entrepreneurial teams to grow," said Ma.

(The original author is Guo Shuyu from Liangjiang New Area Media Center)