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The World Forum of Young Scientists (Nanjing) will kick off in Jiangbei New Area just tomorrow. More than twenty Nobel laureates, academicians from home and abroad, over a hundred young scientists from around the world, as well as representatives from universities, research institutions, investment institutions and well-known enterprises gathered on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
One after another, top-notch forums in the industry, one after another, internationally leading scientific and technological innovation achievements, one after another, major projects signed and implemented, and one after another, policies full of sincerity in attracting talents… At this most significant event of the year, the new district spared no effort in showcasing all its best moves.
The most direct logic of building such a world-class platform under the name of “Young Scientists” is to tell the world the determination of the national-level new area: “Investing in the youth” is “investing in the future”.
The competition among cities, in the final analysis, boils down to the competition for talent. The more promising the youth are, the brighter the future of the city will be. Especially the group of young scientists, they are the “key species” of the talent ecosystem. Their appearance is exactly what the greater Jiangbei area looks like.
Dr. Shao Yang, born in the 1980s, returned from studying abroad and started a business in the new district nearly a decade ago. Under his leadership, the once small boat, Shihe Gene, has risen to become a giant ship in the industry. His independently developed Shihe No.1 ® high-throughput sequencing gene Detection kit for pan-solid tumors has, for the first time in the world, simultaneously obtained certifications from the three major international authoritative regulatory agencies, NMPA, FDA, and CE, achieving a “grand slam”.
Chen Yu, a doctoral graduate from Peking University in 1998, came to the new district with his fellow students right after graduation to establish Xingzhiyunkai, venturing into the niche field of neurological drug research and development. Just three or four months after its establishment, it has already received orders from the top three domestic pharmaceutical companies. Perhaps, in five or ten years, another “Shaoyang-style” story will be born in the new district.
These are all the core increments of urban development. The city skyline is composed of steel structures and glass curtain walls, while the true height of thinking is defined by this group of young scientists who are immersed in the laboratory. When one innovative and disruptive scientific research achievement after another is born and transformed in the new district, the value they create also makes us re-understand the connotation of development.
Three young PHDS from the physics Department of Fudan University founded Feimian Instruments in the new district. A set of precision instruments has been sold for over 10 million yuan. The most expensive mice living in the “luxury apartment” of Jicui Yaokang can be sold for tens of thousands of yuan each.
Using the value of technology to open up boundless imagination space is the way young scientists rewrite cities.
Beyond value creation, young scientists are also shaping a positive and upward “inquisitive personality” and “struggle inertia” for the city.
Under the Longwang Mountain and by the Chengnan River, the backpackers who pass by you in a hurry might just be a returned overseas doctor. They meet here and also realize their personal value here.
Cheng Yuhao, a doctor from Nanjing University who emerged from the Wenchuan earthquake, led his team to develop “human blood” that is not restricted by blood type and does not cause cross-infection. Chen Nan, a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University in the United States, has been starting a business in the new district for four years. All his former doctoral supervisors and teachers have come. MAO Wen, a student from Peking University, founded Nuoling Biology, which pioneered the nitric oxide therapy device. Due to a phone call from her, her classmate He Wei from Peking University also came to the new district to establish Zewei Biology. The two enterprises are only 300 meters apart.
Last summer, two young pharmaceutical companies, Yaojie Ankang and Weili Zhibo, from the foot of Longwang Mountain, successively listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This achievement was inseparable from the support of the overseas listed industrial investment fund established by the new district. This is a mutual pursuit between the city and young scientists, jointly heading towards broader industrial prospects and the beautiful vision of “curing cancer”.
When a group of people forge ahead one after another, and when one policy after another provides a guarantee, with “newness”, “youth” and “strength”, and alumni economy, in the new district, these are not abstract terms but concrete and touching stories.
This ever-lasting innovative ecosystem has also inspired Nanjing University and Southeast University, their neighbors, to gather again at the foot of Longwang Mountain after nearly 20 years, bringing cutting-edge disciplines to participate in the vigorous industrial practice of the new district. In the future, there will surely be more inspiring stories emerging from here and motivating more people.
Cities, like people, live on a breath of air. Only when young people can strengthen their confidence, see hope and envision the future here can they be willing to stay.
The city has never been the head of the youth and there is no need to carry the solemnity of “You are coming”. Cities should be friends of the youth, creating empathy of “I’m coming” with sincerity.
Therefore, the slogan “New highland of Industrial Technology, New Main City of Youthful Vitality” is by no means groundless; rather, it is the result of profound reflection. If the ongoing activities in Jiangbei New Area are strung together into a line, a logical thread becomes clear –
If the “Construction Plan for the Yangtze River Industrial Science and Technology Innovation Pilot Zone” launched in March is to enable the vast number of young talents to “understand Jiangbei” and provide more stages for them to display their talents; The integrated investment promotion conference for culture, tourism, sports and business in the three districts of the North of the Yangtze River on September 16th aims to create “the north bank of Ning, My Home Ground” with the picturesque landscape, trendy performances and relaxed lifestyle, inviting them to “come to the north of the Yangtze River”. Then, at the World Young Scientists Forum on September 20th, with great expectations, a series of measures to attract talents were put forward, inviting them to “stay in Jiangbei”.
Keep a proper balance between work and rest, never stop moving forward, to perceive the true meaning of life, and even more so, to pursue a career that is worth devoting your passion to.
