Best and brightest university grads enrich business growth and investment
The alumni network linking graduates of China's top universities to cutting-edge industries is helping Shanghai's Yangpu District accelerate its digital economy and attract investment.
The district in northeastern Shanghai is home to Fudan and Tongji universities, and more than 8,000 digital-related companies, including the regional headquarters of industry giants Douyin, Meituan and Bilibili.
Xia Licheng, a Fudan graduate in physics, is one example.
He has been rooted in Yangpu for three decades. After graduation, he founded his own information technology firm in 2002, and earned an executive MBA at Fudan. Last year, he founded the non-profit Shanghai Yangpu Sci-Tech Innovation Association.
He called the district a "natural breeding ground" for graduates to help foster business opportunities.
The association connects alumni from dozens of universities across China, who have degrees in areas such as finance, engineering, electricity, and information technology. It often serves as a "matchmaker," uniting science initiatives with business resources.
The association currently has 1,300 members, with the number expected to exceed 2,000 this year.
To date, it has identified over 100 business opportunities, with half resulting in companies relocating or registering in Yangpu, Xia said.
Business executives, entrepreneurs, bankers and investors visited the Shanghai Experience Center of Digitization and Intelligence in Yangpu District.
Digital sites
The group's latest initiative, in tandem with local investment promotion bureaus, was a series of tours for university graduates to visit important digital companies in Yangpu – part of the city's Invest Shanghai Week that ended on Sunday.
During the week, the city announced a package of policies aimed at further attracting investment, launched an "intelligent manufacturing" platform and an AI computing resources platforms operated by Yangpu-based, state-owned Inesa Group, and reported 21 major new investment projects involving several hundred billion yuan.
The city also organized tours in Jiading, Changning and Songjiang districts to showcase progress in fields that represent Shanghai's focus for the future, including autonomous driving, new-energy projects, satellite communications and robotics.
Yangpu is seeking to position itself as a hub for digital services. Existing companies there have generated revenue of 325.9 billion yuan (US$45 billion), a fifth of the industry total in Shanghai.
The district boasts seven national university science and technology parks, 33 major research laboratories and over 100 research institutes. Those efforts involve 180,000 university students, nearly 70 national academicians and over 600 overseas professionals.
The tour of Yangpu drew business executives, entrepreneurs, bankers and investors who visited the Shanghai Experience Center of Digitization and Intelligence, digital industry zones and Fuxing Island, a hub of quantum-related technology firms.
Wang Yuanbiao (second from the right), chairman of Shanghai FM Swift Digital Technology, was talking with Jason Han, founder of Bihu AI, in a tour to Fuxing Island in Shanghai. They are both Fudan University alumni.
Business connections
Among the attendees was Wang Yuanbiao, chairman of Shanghai FM Swift Digital Technology, and Jason Han, founder of Bihu AI – both Fudan University alumni.
Founded in 2022, Shanghai FM Swift is a subsidiary of Fudan Microelectronics, a Fudan University-backed chip firm.
FM Swift offers near field communications based on a virtual mobile transportation card and is expanding its business to integrate campus and office card features, and car key functions into its services.
Wang called Shanghai's capital market "vibrant," enabling rapid growth for companies like Fudan Microelectronics and its subsidiaries.
Fudan Microelectronics is now listed both on the Shanghai STAR Market and in Hong Kong, while subsidiary Sinoic is listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange. The company, focusing on chip testing and assembling, surged 56 percent in 2024, almost quadruple its initial public offer price.
Startup Bihu AI offers one-stop AI services for smaller companies, including data labeling and cleaning, and customized AI implementations. Han emphasized his company can provide flexible solutions for customers at advantageous prices.
Wang Jingxuan, vice president of the Postal Savings Bank of China's Yangpu branch, talked about the bank's commitment to provide financing for local businesses and startups during the tour.
