Holding the top position nationwide! Beijing has 116 unicorns | Focus on the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum

(From: Banliang Finance)

The 2026 Zhongguancun Forum annual conference has recently come to a successful close. As a national-level, global, leading platform for technology innovation exchange and cooperation, this year’s forum centers on the core theme of “the deep integration of science and technology innovation and industrial innovation,” bringing together over one thousand top scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors from more than 100 countries and regions under one roof. A series of activities—forum meetings, a showcase of cutting-edge achievements, technology deal matchmaking, and international competitions—played out one after another. Innovation energy surged everywhere on site, making the event an important window for observing China’s high-quality development in technology and the economy, showcasing the nation’s determination for scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, and leading global innovation cooperation.

From embodied intelligence robotic arms operated flexibly in the exhibition hall, to brain-computer interface devices entering the clinical stage, to the science-and-innovation policy releases and billion-yuan-level industry fund signings unveiled in the main venue—then to the innovation map jointly built by the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the global open cooperation network aimed at the world—this year’s Zhongguancun Forum, with solid achievements, pragmatic match-making, an end-to-end layout, and a globalized perspective, clearly sketches a development blueprint for Beijing: driving new-quality productive forces through scientific and technological innovation; laying an economic foundation with a real economy; and linking global innovation with an open posture. It also centrally showcases vivid practice of the nation’s science and technology innovation strategy taking root and delivering results.

(Full text: 4,836 Chinese characters; 16 minutes to read)

Reporter｜Zhu Kaiyun Photo｜Zhu Kaiyun Wen Jing

Editor｜Zhang Xin Intern｜Cheng Xinqiao

Hard technology accelerates into the mainstream

Stepping into the 10k-square-meter permanent exhibition hall of the Zhongguancun Forum feels like you’re in a future-tech world. All kinds of cutting-edge achievements are systematically displayed; precision equipment shines under the lights; dynamic interactive demonstrations allow visitors to feel firsthand the powerful force of technology changing lives. This year’s forum unveiled 560+ cutting-edge scientific and technological achievements. They are no longer just cold technical parameters, but hard-core capabilities that can be seen, experienced, and applied on the ground—covering key fields such as artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, commercial aerospace, biomedicine, and advanced manufacturing. Behind every achievement lies a solid step-by-step advance of China’s technology—from fundamental research to breakthroughs in application—and also a concentrated display of the nation’s strategic science and technology strengths.

In the embodied intelligence exhibition area, a lightweight mechanical gripper weighing only 370 grams has become the focal point. With more than 20 micro-motors built in, it can both firmly pick up and lift items weighing over 30 kilograms and accurately perform fine operations such as threading a needle and sorting tiny components. Staff demonstrated on site the complete end-to-end process of the mechanical gripper working with a robot to carry out logistics sorting and the assembly of precision instruments. The movements were smooth and flexible, not in the least inferior to human hands, drawing frequent rounds of admiration from the audience. Nearby, a heterogeneous robot swarm further showcases a high degree of coordinated intelligence: greeting visitors, beverage preparation, and item delivery are all achieved through full-process automation. Robots with different functions分工协作 and seamlessly connect, completely breaking the limitations of prior single-machine robot displays. It marks embodied intelligence stepping out of the laboratory and moving toward large-scale industrial applications, providing important support for intelligent upgrades in manufacturing and a fundamental transformation in production methods.

Progress in the brain-computer interface exhibition area has drawn significant attention. The “North Brain No. 1” semi-invasive wireless brain-computer interface device is quietly on display, with its screen live-streaming images from human clinical trials. According to researchers, this product has successfully completed implantation in 7 human cases. In 2026, it will fully launch registered clinical GCP trials, with plans to enroll 50 to 100 patients with cervical spinal cord injuries throughout the year, helping people with disabilities regain limb control and sensory perception of the outside world. The “North Brain No. 2” fully invasive system, which advances clinical validation in parallel, is paired with the 400-million-yuan “North Brain” special fund announced on site. This provides end-to-end financial backing for the technology’s journey from R&D to clinical trials and from trials to market-oriented applications—accelerating the cutting-edge technology toward broad public benefit, and showcasing China’s independent innovation capability and its people-centered concern in the life sciences sector.

Breakthroughs in the field of fundamental research are also equally impressive. Achievements such as flexible super-planar diamond thin-film large-scale fabrication equipment, a flash chip with a two-dimensional semiconductor/silicon-based hybrid architecture, and new interfacial materials for controlling air-and-space interfaces are released together. These seemingly specialized and opaque underlying technologies are exactly the core foundation for high-end manufacturing, aerospace/space technology, and the semiconductor industry. When speaking on site, many industry experts said that such “from 0 to 1” original innovation effectively breaks foreign technology monopolies and builds solid foundational support for China’s high-end industries to be independently controllable—an essential cornerstone for achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement. At the same time, teams in fields such as quantum technology, 6G communications, and cell and gene therapy stage performances and briefings on site, sharing the latest research progress and helping fundamental research step out of the “ivory tower” while tightly connecting it with industrial needs. They are building an innovation ecosystem of two-way enabling and benign interaction between fundamental research and industrial applications.

Standardization leads industry competition

Standardization has become a core keyword for this year’s forum to drive the industrialization of science and technology achievements. A dedicated standard innovation exhibition area is set up specifically in the exhibition hall, focusing on the more than 100 standards formulated by Beijing in fields such as stem cells, industrial internet, and intelligent connected vehicles. This forms a progressive system from group standards to national standards and then to international standards. Data released on site shows that in the past five years, Beijing units led the formulation of more than 500 international standards, and the city and district-level governments cumulatively invested 156 million yuan in subsidies for the development of advanced standards—pushing cutting-edge technologies to be rapidly transformed into real-world effectiveness through standardization.

In the standard exhibition area for intelligent connected vehicles, screens display live data on the road-network operations in Beijing Economic-Technological Development Zone. With 317 intersections relying on a unified communication protocol standard, the average daily optimization reaches 35k traffic-signal adjustments, the number of roadside parking occurrences drops by 41%, and driving speeds increase by 15%. Through the landing of scientific and technological achievements via standards, they are truly converted into practical benefits for urban governance and industrial development. Seizing the global industrial competition “high ground” with standards as a first move not only provides institutional guarantees for high-quality industrial development, but also gives China’s technology rules more say on the global stage.

“ The ultimate destination of scientific and technological innovation is to empower the real economy.” This consensus was repeatedly mentioned by participating guests at this year’s forum. In the exhibition hall, cutting-edge exhibits are no longer merely display items for people to look at; they are accelerating toward production lines and becoming practical products integrated into every one of the thousand trades. Centering on Zhongguancun, Beijing builds a full-chain innovation ecosystem of “fundamental research—technological breakthroughs—achievement transformation—industrial landing.” Through three key initiatives—technology transactions, capital enablement, and scenario openness—it links “the last mile” from laboratories to production lines, ensuring that the dividends of science and technology innovation flow continuously to the real economy, and providing full-cycle and full-factor support for cultivating and expanding new-quality productive forces.

The newly put into operation Zhongguancun Technology Exchange Center has become one of the busiest areas during the forum. More than 20 consecutive technology transaction matchmaking events were in full swing. Over 500 high-quality S&T innovation projects were on prominent display. Senior executives and technology managers from enterprises across the country moved through the venue to talk and negotiate. Scenes of handshake cooperation, exchanging business cards, and finalizing intentions can be seen everywhere. “Our bio-pharmaceutical intermediate technology has already reached preliminary cooperation with two pharmaceutical companies in Hebei and Tianjin. The on-site matchmaking efficiency far exceeds that of online communication,” an executive of a Beijing S&T innovation company said excitedly. This place is not only a venue for technology matchmaking—it has also become a global hub for trading scientific and technological achievements and a core platform for allocating innovation factors, driving the efficient flow and precise matching of innovation resources.

The “Several Measures Regarding Strengthening the Talent Team for S&T Innovation Services,” released on site in parallel, injects strong momentum into the transformation of science and technology achievements. The policy focuses on building technology manager talent, constructing an innovation services system, improving policy support and incentive mechanisms, and more—fully addressing industry pain points such as “scientific researchers don’t understand transformation” and “companies can’t find technologies.” Data shows that in 2025, Beijing’s total technology contract transaction value reached 986.5 billion yuan, ranking first nationwide; the added value of the science and technology services industry exceeded 380 billion yuan, accounting for 7.4% of GDP. The technology transaction market has become a core hub for Beijing’s integration of science and technology with industry. It enables global acquisition of technology achievements—“buying from the world and selling to the world.” With market-oriented mechanisms, it promotes the efficient transformation of achievements and provides a demonstration sample for building a national ecosystem for transforming science and technology achievements.

Capital enablement builds solid confidence for the development of S&T innovation industries. At the “Invest Beijing” event held concurrently with the forum, the 50-billion-yuan Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei industry funds completed their first batch of investment deal signings, focusing on hard-tech sectors such as artificial intelligence, biomedicine, advanced equipment, and commercial aerospace. Currently, Beijing’s scale of equity investment in technology innovation has exceeded 1 trillion yuan, bringing together 30k high-tech enterprises. It has formed three trillion-yuan-level industry clusters in areas such as next-generation information technology, and seven thousand-billion-yuan-level industry clusters in areas such as artificial intelligence. Looking ahead, it has strategically laid plans for 23 future industrial tracks. The virtuous cycle of “technology—industry—finance” has already taken shape, providing stable capital support for hard-tech innovation and guiding social capital to invest earlier, in smaller amounts, and into hard-tech—returning to the essence of serving the real economy.

Many heads of investment institutions said that Beijing’s S&T innovation investment has moved beyond blindly chasing trends and now focuses on hard technology and deeply serving the real economy. From angel investment supporting start-up teams, to venture capital backing technological breakthroughs, to industry funds driving large-scale commercialization and landing, end-to-end capital services ensure that S&T innovation companies don’t have to worry about funding issues, allowing them to focus on R&D and market expansion. The change in capital trends reflects a firm direction of building a modern industrial system led by scientific and technological innovation—driving deep integration among the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain.

Upgraded coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

This year’s Zhongguancun Forum sends out a major signal: the construction of the Beijing International Science and Technology Innovation Center has officially expanded from its 16k-square-kilometer core area to a province-level full-region blueprint covering the entire Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region of 210k square kilometers. Policy coordination has become the core guarantee for S&T innovation linkage across Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. On site, the released policy clearly allows central universities and research institutions to apply local science and technology policies across regions, explores establishing the National Natural Science Foundation Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Joint Fund, and supports new R&D institutions to undertake major national S&T tasks across regions—completely resolving the long-standing problem of innovation policies being “not applicable” across areas.

At the same time, the three regions have established a mechanism for shared access to science and technology resources. Major scientific research infrastructure and large scientific research instruments are fully opened to enterprises across all three regions, significantly reducing innovation costs for companies and allowing innovation resources to flow freely and be allocated efficiently within the region. Institutional innovation breaks administrative boundaries, building an integrated innovation policy system and providing an institutional reference for coordinated regional innovation nationwide.

“Previously, when landing technology you had to find manufacturers on your own—communication costs were high and timelines were long. Now that Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development is underway, after R&D is completed, it can be directly sent to Tianjin for pilot testing and to Hebei for mass production, and efficiency improves by several times,” said an executive of a Beijing new-energy company. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei technology manager alliance and the industry innovation consortium were officially established during the forum. Innovation factors such as talent, technology, capital, and data achieve cross-regional efficient matching. The 2.25 million frontline industry science and technology talents in Beijing precisely match the industrial needs in Tianjin and Hebei. Technology transfer centers of universities are laid out in multiple locations across Tianjin and Hebei. Innovation achievements land quickly in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region for rapid transformation. Unified allocation of factors fully activates the potential of regional development, helping the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region become a forerunner in innovation-driven development nationwide.

Opening up discourse power in science and technology for win-win cooperation

As a national-level S&T innovation platform oriented toward the world, the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum upholds the理念 of openness, cooperation, sharing, and win-win outcomes. It continues to expand the global circle of innovation, deeply participates in global innovation governance, and serves as a core carrier for China to link global innovation resources, output innovation solutions, and enhance international influence—helping Zhongguancun move from being a China-focused innovation highland to becoming a key global innovation network hub.

Gathering top innovation forces from more than 100 countries and regions, this year’s forum sees deep participation from international S&T organizations, multinational enterprises, and top research universities. They hold dialogue and exchanges around global topics such as artificial intelligence, life sciences, climate change, and the digital economy, consolidating innovation consensus and jointly discussing cooperation paths. During the forum, a batch of international joint laboratories, multinational technology collaboration projects, and global technology transfer centers signed deals and took root. They promote the clustering of global innovation factors in Beijing and in China, and help build a cross-national innovation cooperation system characterized by talent coming together, technology interconnecting, capital investing mutually, and achievements sharing.

The forum actively promotes Chinese S&T innovation standards going global, using fields such as stem cells, industrial internet, and intelligent connected vehicles as breakthroughs, and accelerating the international transformation of advanced standards. In the past five years, Beijing units led the formulation of over 500 international standards. By connecting global industries through standards, it has significantly improved China’s discourse power in global technology rule-making. Many cutting-edge technology achievements with global competitiveness were showcased at the forum, demonstrating China’s hard-tech strength and original innovation capability to the world. This breaks outsiders’ stereotyped impressions of China’s innovation and helps establish an international image of independent innovation, open innovation, and coordinated innovation.

The Zhongguancun Technology Exchange Center is open to the world, building a core platform for global trade of scientific and technological achievements—“buying from the world and selling to the world.” It not only helps high-quality Chinese technology achievements go to Belt and Road co-building countries and global markets, but also brings in advanced global technologies and innovation resources to serve domestic industrial upgrading. The multilateral innovation cooperation mechanisms formed by the forum, the normalized exchange channels, and the internationalized service system provide stable expectations and institutional guarantees for global S&T innovation cooperation, demonstrating China’s sense of responsibility as a great power: promoting innovation through openness and pursuing development through cooperation. It injects strong momentum into the global scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation.

For multiple days, I have traveled between the venues and exhibition halls of the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum. As a reporter who has long focused on Beijing’s science-and-technology economy, my deepest feelings can be summed up in two words: “hot” and “real.”

“Hot” lies in the feverish atmosphere on site, but it is also a surge of capital, talent, and technology flows—a heat level that concentrates global innovation attention on China. At the technology exchange center, I witnessed several start-up enterprises and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei manufacturing enterprises reach cooperation on the spot. The sincerity and efficiency of face-to-face engagement are beyond what online communication can match. At the capital forum, a cluster of billion-yuan-level funds made its appearance. Investors shifted from “chasing the trend” to “deepening in hard technology.” This change in direction made me truly feel the firm resolve to deeply integrate the real economy with scientific and technological innovation—and also see the confidence that China’s innovation-driven economy will proceed steadily and far.

“Real” is reflected in every achievement that leaves the laboratory. In the exhibition hall, what you see are no longer cold parameter display boards, but robots that are operable and brain-computer interface devices that let you see clinical progress. Standing in the embodied intelligence exhibition area, watching the mechanical gripper firmly pick up an egg and complete precise assembly, I deeply feel that “science fiction” is becoming reality. These technologies are not simply for show; they are truly practical outcomes intended for factories and to serve everyday life. The essence of technology innovation rooted in real industries, serving people’s livelihoods, and empowering development is displayed here to the fullest extent.

The “map-like sense of scale” in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development exhibition area is as impressive as the “international flair” in the global cooperation exhibition area. From original innovations in Beijing, to pilot transformation in Tianjin, to large-scale production in Hebei, the coordinated, task-list-based division of work and cooperation across the three regions breaks through administrative barriers. From cross-border dialogues to standard output; from mutual learning on technology to shared achievements—this Zhongguancun Forum makes China’s innovation tightly connected with the world. Company executives interviewed said that previously, landing technology took half a year. Now, thanks to Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordination efficiency, it has doubled. With the help of a global platform, the path for technology to go global is even broader. Behind this are vivid stories of the flow of innovation factors, and a strong confirmation that regional coordination and global openness have moved from理念 to practice.

Inside Haidian Park, the forum venue, supporting science popularization activities attracted many visitors, and the flower area is already bursting with color. The Zhongguancun Forum is not only a technological grand event, but also a “barometer” of Beijing’s high-quality development—an era witness to China’s science and technology innovation reaching new heights, the real economy moving to a higher energy level, and global influence achieving a new level of enhancement. It carries the hope and future of national innovation and development.

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