At the Zhongguancun International Technology Exchange Conference, there is a group of "Blue Vests." Who are they?

（Source: The Shanghai Observer）

At the site of the Zhongguancun International Technology Trade Fair during the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference, a team wearing matching blue vests stands out.

They move between the pitching area, the negotiation area, and the exhibition spaces. They neither stand in the very center of the stage nor are they limited to any one fixed post, yet they remain active at key junctions between projects and resources.

Who exactly are they?

“These ‘blue-vest’ people are our technical managers.” A person in charge of the conference revealed the answer.

A new team

The “blue vests” are a team established for this conference.

They have been described as “professional bridges connecting labs to production lines.” They understand the technical logic of researchers, and they are also familiar with how industry and the market operate.

In terms of composition, this team is not made up of a single professional background. Instead, it consists of professionals from different fields—investment managers, technology transfer practitioners, entrepreneurship service personnel, intellectual property experts, and others—forming a diversified pool of resources.

“Each person is a resource pool.” Technical manager Lü Jing summarized her role this way. In her view, technical managers with different backgrounds come together, enabling resources to connect and be shared, so that they can serve entrepreneurs more effectively.

This layered “resource pool” makes the “blue vests” a node connecting multiple elements.

At present, the first batch of teams has 100 people. According to the introduction, in the future the team will be expanded to 1,000 over 5 years, covering the three regions of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei.

What they do

At the event site, reporters saw that the work of the “blue vests” is not conspicuous, but it runs throughout.

From the time dimension, their services cover the entire process before, during, and after the conference. Before the conference, they participate in project screening and requirement sorting; during the conference, they handle on-site matchmaking and information recording; after the conference, they continue to track project progress and deployment.

Lü Jing’s daily work is a microcosm of this process. At the venue, she needs to quickly follow up on pitching projects, record company needs, and make an initial judgment. “Basically, one project pitch is 7 to 8 minutes. We can only do preliminary understanding and recording,” she said.

And the truly in-depth work happens after the conference. “It requires appointment-based visits, one-on-one communication—to understand project progress, product status, financing needs, technical challenges, talent recruitment, intellectual property, and many other aspects.” Lü Jing introduced.

This process—from “initial contact” to “long-term follow-up”—often lasts for several months or even longer. “Short ones might be a few months; long ones could be more than ten years,” she said.

From “intermediaries” to “fellow companions”

Different from the traditional meaning of technology intermediaries, the “blue vests” place greater emphasis on long-term accompaniment and systematic service.

“We are not intermediaries; we’re the co-pilot.” Technical manager Yang Lu described her role this way. She believes that technical managers need to be involved from the early stage of a company’s birth, growing alongside the company.

This shift in role is also reflected in the scope of service—from single-point connections for investment and financing, to full-chain services including technology transfer, intellectual property, legal and financial advisory, industrial resource matchmaking, and incubation of park space, among others.

In other words, the “blue vests” are no longer just “deal-makers,” but service providers that run through a company’s growth lifecycle.

The significance of the “blue vests” is also not limited to a single forum. According to plans, this team will continue to expand in the future and provide normalized service to the Zhongguancun International Technology Trading Center, offering long-term support for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

At the same time, the organizational level is also gradually improving. For example, by connecting members from different backgrounds through the Technical Managers Association and training systems, a stable service network will be formed.

For participants, this is both a sense of identity and for an ideal. “We become ‘blue vests’ for a single goal: to do a good job in technology services,” Yang Lu said.

“Seeing projects grow step by step brings a strong sense of fulfillment,” Lü Jing said.

On this platform for concentrated display of innovative achievements—the Zhongguancun International Technology Trade Fair—this group of “blue vests” may not stand under the spotlight, but in the process of connecting technology and the market, they build an invisible “bright road” for innovative enterprises.

Original headline: 《At the Zhongguancun International Technology Trade Fair, there is a group of “blue vests”—who are they?》

Chief of the column: Wang Chenghao

Source: Author: Liberation Daily Zhang Yu Yu Chenyang

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