The Opening Ceremony of the 9^th China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair (CSITF) was unveiled today (15 June), launching its main forum – “High-level Forum on Technology Trade” under the theme of “A World Connected by Openness    A Future Powered by Technology”.

The Opening Ceremony was attended by Deputy Secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Mayor of Shanghai Gong Zheng; Vice Minister of Commerce of the PRC Guo Tingting; Deputy Commissioner of the China National Intellectual Property Administration Lu Pengqi; Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Lei Wai Nong; and Vice Governor of Shanxi Province Tang Zhiping. Entrepreneurs of Macao and Hengqin as well as representatives of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Co-operation Zone in Hengqin (“the Co-operation Zone”) were also invited to the event.

Substantial research findings achieved by Macao

At the main forum, Lei Wai Nong said in his speech that, with the full support of the country and positioning itself as “One Centre, One Platform, One Base”, Macao has actively participated in the construction of the science and technology innovation corridor in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and successfully established four state key laboratories respectively in the fields of traditional Chinese medicine, integrated circuit, Internet of Things for intelligent city, as well as lunar and planetary sciences, bringing together scientific research experts to produce outstanding research findings.

Clear deployment of high-tech development in the “1+4” industrial layouts

According to Lei Wai Nong, the Macao SAR government has formulated the “1+4” appropriately diversified development strategy covering high technology, with clear deployment mainly for improving the ecosystem of S&T innovation, recruiting S&T innovation professionals, facilitating industry-university-research partnership, promoting effective commercialisation of research findings, as well as assisting in upgrading and transformation of traditional industries. Besides, Macao has teamed up with the Co-operation Zone and Zhuhai to speed up the establishment of the Centre for Science and Technology Exchange and Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, striving for creating better conditions for domestic and overseas innovation enterprises to further explore the Greater Bay Area by taking Macao and Hengqin as the entry point to leverage S&T innovation resources of Portuguese-speaking countries.

MICE and trade events supporting technology and innovation collaboration

Lei Wai Nong said that Macao, as the host city of the 9^th CSITF, will unfold its innovation strengths through this national-level and even international-level professional event. Looking into the future, Macao will continue to focus on diverse MICE and trade events to enhance the collaboration and business matching in science and technology innovation between Macao and the mainland sister provinces and cities such as Shanghai, Shanxi, as well as Portuguese-speaking countries and the Belt and Road countries, adding new driving-forces to economic development.

During the event, Lei Wai Nong also met with Deputy Secretary-general of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government Zhang Xiong; Director General of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce Zhu Min; Deputy Director General of Foreign Affairs Office and Deputy Director General of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government Zhou Yajun; Second-level Counsel of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce Shi Xiaoping, briefed them on the situation of Macao’s MICE industry and the development of the Co-operation Zone, hoping to further expand the co-operation and exchanges with Shanghai.

Nearly a thousand enterprises gathering together at CSITF

Covering a total exhibition area of 35,000 square metres, the 9^th CSITF brought together nearly a thousand exhibitors this year, with the Macao SAR and Shanxi province serving as the host city and host province respectively. This year’s CSITF features five major exhibition areas, namely the Theme Pavilion, the Energy and Low-carbon Technology Area, the Digital Technology Area, the Biomedicine Area, and the Innovation Ecology and Service Area. During the event period, a main forum, three sessions of theme-day events and nearly 30 supporting activities were launched.