In light of guiding venture capitals in Jiangsu to increase investment in the industrial and supply chains and boost greater support to innovations, start-ups, and creations, the 2^nd Jiangsu Development Summit for Entrepreneurship and Investment was held in Jiangbei New Area (pilot FTZ) on November 12, with the theme on “promoting craftsmanship in entrepreneurship and investment and accelerating the modernization of industrial chains”. Li Kanzhen, Party Secretary and Director General of Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Development and Reform, Xu Xiaobo, First-level Inspector of the Department of Finance and Credit Construction of the National Commission of Development and Reform, Luo Qun, Member of the Standing Committee of CPC Nanjing Municipal Committee and Full-time Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Jiangbei New Area, Yang Xuepeng, Member of the Standing Committee of CPC Nanjing Municipal Committee and Executive Deputy Mayor of Nanjing Municipal People’s Government, Chen Youming, Deputy Secretary General of Nanjing Municipal People’s Government, Xu Ming, Party Secretary and Director of Nanjing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, and Chen Chanmei, Deputy Director of Jiangbei New Area Administrative Committee attended the event.

In his speech Li Kanzhen briefed on the role played by Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Development and Reform in initiating the annual summit since 2019, for creating a new-type of interactive platform for investment and financing activities to facilitate discussions on venture capital development trend in China, consolidate consensus for future development of venture capital enterprises in the province, attract convergence of venture capitals from in and outside the province, and enhance effective dovetailing of venture capitals with innovation and start-up initiatives. Craftsmanship that “focuses on serving the real economy, concentrates on practicing long-term investment, acquires profound knowledge of each subdivided professional field, and specializes in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship” is encouraged and advocated in the province. Driven by the market-oriented mechanism, capitals, projects, talent and other factors shall be guided to favor the key links in the industrial and supply chains, the forefront of R&D and innovation, and the start-ups with promising prospects. Multiple tasks of cementing, strengthening, and shoring up the weak links of the industrial and supply chains must be completed, so as to accelerate the modernization of the industrial and supply chains, and create new drivers, highlights and engines for the high-quality development in Jiangsu.

Luo Qun addressed the keynote speech session, in which he elaborated on the philosophy of promoting the integrated development of advantageous industries and venture capitals in Nanjing Jiangbei New Area, and introduced the practice and experience of enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship through the development of venture capitals. He said that in just five years, Jiangbei New Area’s regional GDP, general public budgetary revenue, social fixed-asset investment and other major indicators have doubled, making it rank the sixth amongst all national-level new areas in China in terms of comprehensive strength. Such an achievement is the result of the high positioning of the industries, the perseverance in pursuing open innovation, and the emphasis on attracting talent with incentives in Jiangbei New Area. He hoped that concerted efforts would be made to work in partnership with Jiangbei New Area with intensified investment to create new space for its economic prosperity and to speed up development of innovations, start-ups, and creations.

Sun Xuegong, President of the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomics, presented an analysis of the projection on the international industrial chains under the context of the current macroeconomic situation, and proposed new opportunities for the development of venture capitals. Dong Liang, Chairman of the Board and Party Secretary of Jiangsu High-Tech Investment Group Co., Ltd, briefed the audience on the developmental and evolving process of the venture capital sector and the overall advantage of venture capital enterprises in Jiangsu, and offered suggestions on further optimizing the ecosystem in the sector. During the opening ceremony, the 2020 Leading Enterprises with Provincial Venture Capital Brand, Model Enterprises, Excellent Teams, Jiangsu Venture Capital Cluster Development Demonstration Zones and Comprehensive Service Bases that are accredited by Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Development and Reform were given the awards.

Reportedly, since the commencement of the Action Plan for Improving Competitiveness of Venture Capital Enterprises in Jiangsu and the first examination and approval for accreditation of Construction Projects of Demonstration Carriers, 16 Leading Enterprises with Provincial Venture Capital Brand, 16 Model Enterprises, 31 Excellent Teams, and 12 Provincial-level Venture Capital Cluster Development Demonstration Zones and nine Comprehensive Service Bases have been accredited, based on a set of holistic evaluation standards including influence within the sector, actual investment performance on the real economy, successful cases, capacity of integrating the industrial and supply chains, investment returns and efficiency on stimulating innovations, start-ups and creations. According to statistics, the first batch of Leading Enterprises with Provincial Venture Capital Brand and Model Enterprises was able to land RMB 60.8 billion of new fundraising, RMB 23 billion of new investment, and 682 new investment projects in the year of their accreditations, resulting in RMB 403.8 billion of fundraising, RMB 171.3 billion of investment, and 4,632investment projects in cumulative terms, representing a strong capital support for the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy in Jiangsu.

In 2020, Jiangsu Provincial Commission of Development and Reform launched its second examination and approval for accreditation. Six venture capital companies including Suzhou Innovation Industry Development Guidance Fund (Limited Partnership) were accredited as Leading Enterprises with Provincial Venture Capital Brand, nine venture capital companies including Changzhou Municipal Government Investment Fund Management Co., Ltd. as Model Enterprises, 18 venture capital teams including Wuxi Golden Investment Capital Management Co., Ltd. (Fang Jian’s Team) as Excellent Teams, four venture capital development platforms including Nanjing Jiangbei New Area Industrial Technology Research and Innovation Park as Jiangsu Venture Capital Cluster Development Demonstration Zones, and three venture capital development platforms including Zhangjiagang Industrial Capital Center as Comprehensive Service Bases.

Sub-fora and project road show matchmaking activities in the four major areas of integrated circuits, smart manufacturing, digital economy, and life and health were also conducted. Analysts from Huatai Securities Co., Ltd. released research reports on investment opportunities in the key industries. More than 20 well-established venture capital companies made special presentations and over 40 start-up companies carried out road shows. In addition, 66 venture capital companies and more than 270 innovation companies and start-ups were included in the key recommendation list by the summit.

Approximately 300 people from provincial departments, municipal commissions of development and reform, relevant departments in Nanjing and Jiangbei New Area, as well as high-quality venture capital companies and start-ups attended the summit. All the agendas were implemented online and offline simultaneously.