The 15th Jianghai Talent Entrepreneurship Week opens in Nantong on July 12. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

The 15th Jianghai Talent Entrepreneurship Week was launched in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, on July 12.

The event assembled 115 well-known academicians and experts, along with more than 500 industry leaders, young talents, and representatives from leading enterprises.

Wu Xinming, Party secretary of Nantong, said in his speech that nowadays, Nantong benefits from its proximity to Shanghai and its integration into the global economy.

He said that the combined output of six key industrial clusters in the city has exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan ($16.37 billion), with high-tech enterprises growing at an average of 20 percent in the past two years. Nantong has experienced sustained population growth over several years, and its count of talents involved in national major projects and provincial "Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talents" programs remains among the highest in the province.

During the promotion, Zhang Tong, mayor of Nantong, mentioned that "investing in Nantong is comparable to investing in Shanghai, and having a presence in Nantong is equivalent to being in the Yangtze River Delta", which has become a shared view among many companies.

She said that Nantong seeks to become a top hub for the province's high-quality marine industry development, emphasizing marine equipment, advanced materials, and new energy.

At the opening ceremony, Yuan Hongliang, chairman of AlphaESS, shared his entrepreneurial journey in Nantong. The event also announced policies promoting artificial intelligence development and supporting the entrepreneurship of returning talents in the city.

As part of the weeklong event, the onsite talent recruitment fair presents over 2,000 positions from 112 enterprises. In contrast, the online recruitment fair is scheduled to run until Aug 8, providing a total of 20,000 sought-after job opportunities.