A forum that promotes innovation and reform will be held in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone (PCPZ) in Fujian province on Tuesday, Dec 16.

More than 400 entrepreneurs and scientists, and a panel composed of young PhD holders from home and abroad, will put their heads together to explore how to make Pingtan a “Smart and Innovative Island”, said a spokesman during a press conference on Monday.

Young doctors specializing in cutting-edge fields meet with the press one day prior to the opening of an innovation forum in Pingtan, Fujian province, Dec 15. [Photo/pingtan.gov.cn]

The forum's organizers will also publish the Pingtan Proposal which suggests the forum become an annual tradition in Pingtan where entrepreneurs and scientists join hands to push an innovation strategy to achieve a common prosperity.

The participants mainly come from sectors of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, new energy, new materials and big data. They will investigate Pingtan's overall planning, industrial climate, industrial layout and preferential policies and give their professional assessments, said Wen Sheng, executive vice chairman of the Fujian Federation of Enterprise & Entrepreneurs (FFEE).

Pingtan was designated as the only experimental zone on the Chinese mainland open to Taiwan in 2009. The central authorities have been encouraging innovation by carrying out mechanism reforms and delegating administrative powers to lower levels.

In a development plan approved by the State Council, Pingtan will build up a characteristic industrial system featuring high-technology, modern service, marine economy and tourism by 2020.

“As one of the special areas in China, Pingtan will bring out the entrepreneurial passion of the young elite and provide them with an opportunity to realize their ‘Chinese Dream',” said Qiu Baojun, deputy director of the Fujian Haixia Economic Research Institute.

The gist of an experimental zone is innovation as Pingtan increases cross-Straits cooperation and is striving to become an international modern free port, said Zhou Qingsong, deputy director of PCPZ's administrative committee.

In order to attract more professionals and entrepreneurs, Pingtan will continue to improve its infrastructure, elevate the levels of cultural environment, city image, education and medical service, and take full advantage of its favorable policies which advocate freedoms in investment, trade, financial sector, personal exchange and shipping, he added.

Pingtan needs assistance from outer forces such as Taiwan's scientific parks and the Zhongguancun, which is dubbed China's Silicon Valley, to help with the cultivation of high-tech enterprises, said Ma Donggen, director of the Pingtan Investment Promotion Bureau.

A business incubator called the Taiwan Pioneer Park will become operational by the end of this year. And the authority in Pingtan will set up two startup funds and come up with more policies to help enterprises inside the park, said Ma.

The forum is co-organized by the China Industry-University Research Institute Collaboration Association, FFEE, China Enterprise Directors Association, Administrative Committee of PCPZ and Fujian Daily Newspaper Group.