Shanghai held a Shanghai and Nantong collaborative and innovative promotion conference on Sept 6, boosting 20 Industry-University-Research (IUR) cooperation undertakings. 

Since the beginning of this year, Nantong and Shanghai have been jointly promoting cooperation and innovation between industries, universities and researches. The two cities reached cooperative intentions in 62 projects. Twenty projects with great influence and sufficient cooperation funds were signed at the promotion conference. The Nantong branch of Shanghai Software Park, Forwork China Artificial Intelligence Industry Park and COCO Space innovation center will settle in Nantong.

In July, Nantong detailed the technological cooperation between it and Shanghai. Nantong is to further promote collaborative innovation between manufacturing enterprises and Shanghai’s universities and colleges, pushing forward the newly increased cooperative projects in industries, universities and research as the next step. Nantong will then organize local enterprises to participate in promotion events such as the first China International Import Expo and the first Yangtze River Delta International Innovation Challenge. Nantong will also work together with local enterprises to build a number of R&D institutions, science parks and science and technology public service platforms.

On April 26, the Nantong municipal government and the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission signed an agreement on comprehensive strategic cooperation in science and technology innovation between Shanghai and Nantong, which put forward a development vision of building a demonstration area for innovation and startups and constructing a union between Shanghai and Nantong for that purpose. At the same time, the two cities signed four cooperative sub-agreements to advance the construction of a Shanghai and Nantong technological cooperation area and technological and innovative think tank as well as a Nantong sub-center of the east national center for technology transfer.