Chongqing — "Can China become the world's first country with over one billion people to escape the middle-income trap? The answer may lie in the hands of young innovators." That was the compelling opening from Li Zexiang, the founder of XbotPark, during his keynote address at the Chongqing Trip for New Forces of Science and Technology Enterprises on July 19.

The high-profile gathering brought together hundreds of science and technology companies, over 30 supply chain partners, and 125 financial institutions from across China, highlighting the city's growing status as a magnet for high-end innovation.

XbotPark is a leading robotics and hardware incubator in China, founded by Li, a key mentor behind DJI and a pioneer of hard-tech entrepreneurship. For over 30 years, he has championed a new model of engineering education and incubation, believing that the next wave of new quality productive forces will shape China’s ability to leap beyond traditional growth and compete globally.

Li Zexiang, the founder of XbotPark, delivered a keynote speech in Chongqing on July 19. (Photo/Chen Zhan)

Reimagining innovation with a Chinese model

During his speech, Li outlined the common thread among the world's most dynamic economies: robust regional innovation clusters. 

San Francisco’s Silicon Valley and the New York Bay Area became hubs for deep-tech in the United States thanks to a convergence of top talent, university-industry collaboration, and historic research labs like Bell Labs and Edison Labs. In Japan, the Tokyo Bay Area drove industrial precision through consumer-focused manufacturing. Germany rebuilt its post-war industrial power through state-sponsored research institutes. Once an industrial relic, Pittsburgh reinvented itself into a modern hub for AI and robotics through university-led innovation.

China, he argued, must learn from these examples—but not replicate them blindly. "We can't copy Silicon Valley. Our advantage lies in our vast manufacturing system, strong engineering talent, and governments that are willing to experiment," he said.

These convictions gave birth to the Songshan Lake Model, first implemented in Dongguan, one of China’s manufacturing powerhouses. This model tightly integrates higher education, startup incubation, venture capital, and shared supply chain infrastructure into a unified ecosystem. “It’s not just about inventing something. It’s about guiding young people from an idea to a product—quickly and at scale,” Li noted.

Unlike traditional education pipelines that channel top students into grad schools or corporate careers, his model immerses undergraduates in hands-on, project-based learning from day one. Students build real prototypes, source parts through Shenzhen's vast supply chain, and launch startups before graduation. "We used to lose our best students to the U.S. or big tech firms. Now, nine out of ten stay and start their own companies," he said.

Data supports this shift: in XbotPark’s ecosystem, one out of every four startups has the potential to become a national champion, dramatically outperforming China’s average success rate of one in 10,000. Some have already crossed billion-yuan valuations in fields such as robotics, smart hardware, and industrial automation.

The 2025 Mingyue Lake Hard Technology Entrepreneur Competition was launched. (Photo/Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology)

Chongqing: a western powerhouse for hard-tech

While XbotPark has taken root in cities across China, nowhere has the model flourished quite like it has in Chongqing. Once known primarily for heavy industry and rugged terrain, the city now positions itself as a western powerhouse for deep-tech entrepreneurship.

In the Liangjiang New Area, XbotPark's Mingyue Lake experimental class—built in partnership with local universities—has already nurtured over 300 full-time entrepreneurs in just a few years. The startup success rate is impressive, with 20 percent of students going on to launch their own companies.

What drives Chongqing's success? L said it's a unique combination of agile government policies, a strong industrial backbone, and a willingness to break educational conventions. "Chongqing's universities aren't afraid to experiment, and its manufacturing sector is mature enough to support rapid product iterations and scaling," he noted.

The city is also becoming a B2B innovation hub, especially in areas like autonomous driving, industrial automation, and smart manufacturing. Many startups are forming strategic clusters, offering turnkey solutions to manufacturers across China and bolstering the country’s drive for high-end manufacturing independence.

To Li, Chongqing isn’t just a regional success—it’s a blueprint for China’s future innovation economy. “We’re building a full-stack ecosystem: from project-based learning to internships, bootcamps, and eventually, real-world ventures. By the time they graduate, many students are already founders,” he explained.

The July 19 event also marked the official launch of the 2025 Mingyue Lake Hard-Tech Entrepreneurship Competition. Open to global startups focused on frontier technologies, the competition offers RMB 330,000 in prize funding and direct entry into the Mingyue Lake International Intelligent Industry Innovation Base.

Winning teams will gain full access to the XbotPark ecosystem—including capital, mentorship, and integration into China’s vast industrial supply chains.