**Photo: Staff members of Zhongke Weijing explain their products. Photo by Wang Zhenhong**

**By Wang Zhenhong, China.org.cn/China Development Gateway**

Currently, China's research investment ranks among the world's top. In 2019, the country's expenditure on research and experimental development (R&D) reached approximately 2.21 trillion yuan, a 12.5% increase from the previous year. This marks the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth, with China's total R&D investment stably holding the second position globally. The R&D intensity (the ratio of R&D expenditure to GDP) was 2.23%, an increase of 0.09 percentage points from the previous year. It has surpassed the average level of the EU's 15 countries in 2018, and the gap with developed countries such as the United States and Japan is narrowing year by year. However, the rate of transformation of scientific and technological achievements in China is relatively low, and the contribution of scientific and technological progress to economic growth still needs to be improved. "Innovation in science and technology will be the main theme of China's development in the next 30 years," said Mi Lei, a doctor from the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and founding partner of Zhongke Innovation Star.

So far in China, the main force of scientific research is still research institutes and universities. An important goal of China's scientific and technological system reform is to form a cooperation model of industry, academia, and research with enterprises as the main body. Therefore, it is necessary to connect research institutes and enterprises to effectively enhance the driving force of innovation.

**Innovation • Breakthrough**

"The Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has combined scientific research with industry and embarked on an innovative industrial path of integrated development of 'talent + technology + finance + market'," said Xie Xiaoping, deputy director of the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics. The institute has focused on the major strategic needs of the country, taken the lead in conducting research on photonics manufacturing technology, and achieved a breakthrough from 0 to 1 in photonics manufacturing technology and equipment. Relying on the major instrument special project of the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2011 and the equipment project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2014, the institute has developed industrial femtosecond lasers and spatial light modulators. With the support of the Xiguang Model, it incubated three hard-tech industrialization companies, Zhongke Weixing, Beijing Zhuolai, and Hangzhou Aocai, from 2014 to 2017, focusing on the industrial promotion of femtosecond lasers and spatial light modulators. In 2015, the industrialization company Zhongke Weijing was established, committed to the industrialization of high-end laser manufacturing equipment.

The Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics and Zhongke Weijing have jointly undertaken the Hongguang Special Project and the STS Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The "Extreme Fine Manufacturing Equipment for Aero-Engines and Spacecraft" project, which they led, was successfully selected as a Hongguang Special Project in 2017 and has completed its phased tasks, moving into the second stage to accelerate the industrialization of the results. Yang Xiaojun, chairman and general manager of Zhongke Weijing, said that in the Hongguang Special Project, the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics focused on breaking through engineering technology, while Zhongke Weijing concentrated on the development and production of femtosecond laser high-end equipment. "Zhongke Weijing has now become a pioneer in domestic high-end photonic manufacturing equipment and has achieved nearly 100% revenue growth for five consecutive years," Yang Xiaojun said with confidence in the future development.

**Incubation • Escort**

So far, six high-tech companies have been incubated in the field of photonics manufacturing, with a strong development momentum. They have generated a direct economic benefit of more than 2 billion yuan and an indirect economic benefit of more than 10 billion yuan, and have preliminarily formed an upstream and downstream industrial chain. Yang Xiaojun said, "The achievements of the photonics manufacturing industry are due to the advanced concept of 'demolishing walls and opening the institute' for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the innovative ecosystem of 'research institutions + angel investment + entrepreneurial platforms + incubation services' in the Xiguang Model. It encourages researchers to step out of the walls, combine with the market and society, and start businesses. The talent dual-cross mechanism is implemented to maximize the release of researchers' innovation and entrepreneurship vitality. It also provides comprehensive support in training, venue, and funding investment to eliminate the worries of researchers and fully engage them in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, promoting the rapid transformation of scientific and technological achievements into productive forces." He believes that "the Xiguang Model has provided strong support for the development of photonics manufacturing industry incubation. Without the Xiguang Model, there would be no emergence and development of the photonics manufacturing industry."

The distinctive ecological network system of "research institutions + angel investment + entrepreneurial platforms + incubation services" mentioned by Yang Xiaojun is built around the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics by Zhongke Innovation Star, which is helping more and more scientific research achievements move from the "bookshelf" to the "shelf." Mi Lei said that Zhongke Innovation Star initiated the first domestic angel investment fund specifically targeting hard technology in 2013. It has successively invested in and incubated 306 hard-tech companies and invested in 88 Chinese Academy of Sciences projects with a fund size of 5.3 billion yuan. The investment areas cover optoelectronic chips and optics, artificial intelligence and information technology, biomedicine, advanced manufacturing, commercial aerospace, and other fields, forming industrial clusters such as optoelectronic chips, aerospace, and artificial intelligence. In the seven years since its establishment, Zhongke Innovation Star has focused on hard-tech investment. Through equity investment and incubation services, it provides financial support and management guidance, forming a closed loop of "talent aggregation - capital investment - large-scale enterprise development - feedback to scientific research." It has solved the entrepreneurial bottleneck of start-up companies lacking start-up funds and being unable to take the first step in entrepreneurship, and scientific and technological achievements are difficult to quickly transform into products and complete the "last mile" due to the lack of a transformation platform. It provides escort for scientific and technological entrepreneurs.

**Model • Promotion**

The Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has adopted an innovative development model of "demolishing walls, opening the institute, professional incubation, and entrepreneurial ecology," allowing researchers with high-precision and original technologies in the fields of optoelectronic chips, artificial intelligence, aerospace, biotechnology, information technology, new materials, new energy, and intelligent manufacturing to leave the "cold bench" and create a "hot industry."

When it was known that Yang Xiaojun's team had the intention to start a business, West Science Angel invested 5 million yuan in seed funding, boosting the team's entrepreneurial morale and determination. A year later, it invested again, with a follow-up investment of more than ten million yuan, to avoid Zhongke Weijing falling into the "valley of death" for researchers' entrepreneurship. In the subsequent several rounds of financing for Zhongke Weijing, Zhongke Innovation Star also helped the company find high-quality investors to solve the company's financing problems. The innovative model of "technology + service" provides a variety of entrepreneurial services for scientific researchers like Yang Xiaojun's team. Currently, almost all senior executives of Zhongke Weijing have participated in the characteristic customized course of Zhongke Innovation Star, the "Hard Technology Entrepreneurship Training Camp."

Xie Xiaoping emphasized that "in terms of the model of transformation of scientific and technological achievements, no single model can be universally applicable. The environment, technical characteristics, and the development of surrounding and upstream and downstream industries determine that a model is suitable under specific conditions. The concept and practice of the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics are called the 'Xiguang Model,' which has been promoted in Shaanxi Province and by the Ministry of Science and Technology. However, the 'Xiguang Model' is mainly applicable to the front end of transformation centered on hard technology." Hard technology has several distinct characteristics: first, a high basic platform, second, high risk and relatively long cycle, and third, rapid iteration of products and markets. "Each university and research institute has its own characteristics and should choose a model suitable for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements," Xie Xiaoping said.

Photo: Zhongke Weijing workshop. Photo by Wang Zhenhong

Original link:http://ydyl.china.com.cn/2020-11/07/content_76886134.htm