Global talents gravitate to Pudong

A view of skyscrapers and high-rise buildings in Shanghai's Pudong New Area. [Photo: China Plus]

If you visited Shanghai, it would be hard not to be impressed by the iconic city skyline in the Pudong New Area.

Pudong, literally the east bank of Huangpu River, was once a desolate piece of farmland. There used to be a saying among the locals that one would rather have a single bed in Puxi, the historic center of Shanghai, than own a house in Pudong.

After 29 years of development, the backwardness associated with the area is now a thing of the past. Farmers' fields have been transformed into a dynamic financial and high-tech zone, whose prominent skyscrapers are reminiscent of Manhattan.

Favorable policies and booming development in Pudong have attracted an influx of global talents to come and stay.

23Seed CEO Daniel Shi [Photo: courtesy of Daniel Shi]

"On the way here, I find myself stand next to three or four German start-up entrepreneurs who actually talking about fintech on the train. They are talking about this place is so amazing. There’re a lot of exciting things…Every day and every week we have a lot of these foreigners, especially start-up entrepreneurs and founders, who are coming here and trying to connect with us or our friends to locate their companies here or to promote their products here. It's definitely more of them right now."

That's Daniel Shi, an Australian-Chinese, who has been running an incubator in the Pudong New Area for more than six years. When I met him at his office in the hustle and bustle of Lujiazui Financial City, the frequent flyer had just returned from a work trip to Australia.

Every time he comes back, says Daniel, he sees more international entrepreneurs coming to Pudong to start businesses or look for investment opportunities –just like what he did a few years ago.

Born in Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang Province, Daniel went to high school in Australia at the age of 16. He received a master's degree in data management from the University of Sydney in 2005. After years of working with big data analytics, in 2007, Daniel made the decision to return to China and start his own business.

He explains why he came back.

"Back then Chinese economy and the whole environment were actually taking up and the tech products we heard of is gonna be a major trend and major booming in China. I was young and I tried to do something to make myself busy in terms of different directions. So I came back to China and started my own company."

Having encountered early-career setbacks in his hometown of Ningbo, Daniel decided to try his luck in the Pudong New Area, a pioneer area in the country's reform and opening-up process.

Daniel said the openness of the area and the international atmosphere were among key factors encouraging him to stay.

"There’re two choices. One is to go to Beijing’s Zhongguancun, another place is in Shanghai, Zhangjiang. The Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park is considered as the 'Silicon Valley' of east China. Eventually, I talked to a few friends and Shanghai is obviously one place really attracts me, because back then my Chinese was kind of broken after staying ten years offshore. Shanghai has the most accessible expat community for me to be easily communicated with."

He was also attracted by the favorable government policies – such as simpler visa application procedures, easier access to finance and a larger talent pool.

Daniel gives an example.

"I remember when I came back I have to go through a lot of things to get the working visa, to have your degrees authorized and certified by certain authorities. We still do have that process, but right now people can easily get access to this kind of information, the process on how to do that and also can directly interact with these departments… Initially I was getting one year working visa. So I have to renew that every year. But these days you can get a five or ten years working visa. I think one thing that people coming back, or foreigners coming to China to do business or try to do their startups, is to make sure they can stay here and doing their work properly. So, I think it’s a really good help from the government."

In 2013, the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone was established in Pudong. In the same year, the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Pudong was listed as "the most competitive high-tech innovation zone to Silicon Valley" in the tech capital's annual report.

In the same year of 2013, Daniel co-founded an incubator called 23seed, a fully-fledged innovation and entrepreneurship platform in Pudong that provides global entrepreneurs, especially tech start-ups, with venture capital financing, mentorship, and policy support. So far, the company has incubated more than 200 companies.

Daniel said the rising fame of Pudong as a global financial hub as well as a booming high-tech center has made it a major destination for high-caliber talent around the globe.

"I think it's getting much better compared to ten years ago, cause back then everything was new. There's not many people who knew that China really promotes innovation, and also really promotes the entrepreneurship. These days, because a lot of articles, media releases are talking about how Pudong is trying to attract a lot of worldwide talents to come here to do their startups, I think it's much better now. Over ten years before, we normally saw traditional tech talents, but these days we are talking to people who actually worked for Apple, Microsoft, IBM and they’re trying to make their startups and they come here. They are very senior high executives and trying to do something here. I think it's a good sign, because in the tech world if you have more barrier then you definitely have your competitiveness in the market."

Early this month, Microsoft's Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things Insider Lab started operating in Zhangjiang. It's the fourth and also the largest such lab run by Microsoft in the world.

Daniel believes that with a pleasant international environment, a dynamic entrepreneurship ecosystem, and ever-improving supporting policies, Pudong can expect to embrace anther golden age in the coming ten years.

"In Pudong, we rely on Lujiazui which is the financial district. If you look at the news, it attracts a lot of foreign capitals to land in Lujiazui. It is also in the Free Trade Zone. So foreign capital is more accessible to this area. They really want to establish their offices here in Lujiazui. From the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, we see tons of good IT companies, tech companies, and medical companies. They're landing over there to do their research, to do R&D, to develop new product. When you’re in Zhangjiang, it’s like the Silicon Valley version. I think it's a good blend, because we have the capital is growing and also we have the tech park is growing. They're actually in the same zone. They are all in Pudong and they share more accessible communication ways. I think it’s very good. Especially right now in Zhangjiang, they’re focusing on the IC industry, and they have a lot of really good medical or pharmaceutical companies. I think it's a very promising future for Pudong. "