"Applying advanced technology to traditional agriculture can not only reduce resource waste and protect the environment, but also improve the quality of crops." A month ago, Zuo Qiang took the company's newly launched "Laidao" technology project to the roadshow stage of the 12th Overseas Students Zhejiang Tour. This is a talent recruitment activity for overseas students jointly initiated by Zhejiang Province and Tsinghua University. After Zuo Qiang and the participating students went to Lishui, Tongxiang and other places in Zhejiang for field investigations, he eagerly hoped that the project could take root in Zhejiang.

After graduating from the University of Illinois in the United States with a master's degree, Zuo Qiang has returned to China for 4 years.

At a press conference held by the Ministry of Education recently, Liu Jin, Director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Department of the Ministry of Education and Director of the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Office, revealed that from 2016 to 2019, 2.518 million Chinese students went abroad and 2.013 million returned to China, accounting for 80% of the total. The vast number of overseas students is a valuable asset of the country, and returning to China to start a business has also become a major choice for young overseas returnees who have mastered innovative technology.

After founding Beijing Lingrui Technology Co., Ltd., Zuo Qiang found that most of the company's customers are agricultural enterprises, and precise fertilization and drug use for agricultural products is a major problem for them. The new agricultural application technology independently developed by the team can not only provide targeted precision fertilizer and drug use solutions and products, but also conduct soil testing and remediation.

Targeting the precision track of organic agriculture, Zuo Qiang is full of confidence in the future. "Surveys show that China's fertilization efficiency and fertilizer utilization rate are only about 40%, but European and American countries have reached about 60%. There is still 20% room for improvement in Chinese agriculture."

Three years ago, Zhu Tianze, who was still studying for a doctorate at the University of Oxford in the UK, saw the industrialization value of "new recycled plastics based on multi-block copolymers" from his scientific research projects. He returned to China with the new technology he developed independently and established Beijing Zeno Technology Co., Ltd. "But the product application has not been carried out on a large scale, and it is also because a suitable location for building a factory has not been found." Through the activities, Zhu Tianze set his sights on Taizhou, Cixi and Ningbo, hoping to find a suitable "foothold" for the factory.

According to the survey of the "2020 China Study Abroad White Paper", family and China's economic development are the main reasons for overseas returnees to return to China. The market of the motherland is large enough, and various provinces, cities and regions continue to offer olive branches, allowing overseas returnees to step out of the laboratory and enter the Chinese market with their independently developed technologies.

During the week-long event, more than 150 overseas returnees from the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia and other places attended the conference. Overseas returnees set up "stalls" at the venue, waiting for the attention of venture capital institutions and incubation platforms. Liu Fenglin, a doctor from Korea University of Science and Technology, brought his patented research on "blood sugar-stabilizing medical food functional rice" to seek support for implementation; Zheng Minxue, a doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, wanted to find a new site for the "non-invasive early screening project for digestive tract tumors"... The relevant person in charge of the organizer said that more than 50% of the projects have determined their intention to land, and further negotiations are underway.

From focusing on scientific research to scientific research results becoming productivity, overseas returnees have to face many practical problems such as financing, resource docking, and talent reserves.

In the past two years, Xie Yunfeng, a doctor at Pennsylvania State University, has been troubled by "staying in the laboratory for too long and having almost no connections and resources". After visiting Zhejiang for a field trip, he immediately went to Dongguan, Guangdong to participate in an event. Although "Voice of Science" was founded in Silicon Valley, Xie Yunfeng still wants to bring the independently developed audio innovation technology back to China, "so that when people mention audio equipment in the future, they will no longer just admire foreign products, but we will also have technologies and products that we are proud of". During this period, he has been sending out "hero invitations" and "creating a Chinese team is our biggest challenge at present".

Zuo Qiang recently received feedback from the governments of Lishui and Tongxiang, Zhejiang: not only can they provide office space, but they can also connect with customers and planting resources. Zuo Qiang said frankly, "Laidao Technology has a high demand for hardware such as precision instruments and detectors. As a start-up, it still cannot access high-quality hardware providers. These policies can just make up for this." In his view, the continuous R&D investment of technology companies requires government policy and financial support. If it can be successfully landed in Zhejiang, he hopes to establish a test field to make the results of the new technology "visible".

Zhu Tianze, who received feedback from Taizhou and Ningbo, believes that Taizhou's attractiveness comes from providing standardized factories and supporting financial support. "Ningbo's convenience and sound industrial chain are also a major attraction. Most of the customers are in Ningbo, and the transportation link is saved."

From funds, talents, technology, policies to follow-up support, local governments are making every effort to create a high-quality entrepreneurial ecological environment for overseas students to return to China to start businesses. Gao Xingfu, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province, issued an invitation at the event: "Zhejiang will vigorously implement the talent priority development strategy, improve policies to support talent entrepreneurship and innovation, and provide the best services and the best environment for all kinds of talents to start businesses in Zhejiang."

As the organizer of the event, Li Zheng, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department of the Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of Zhejiang Tsinghua University, believes that the country's demand for scientific and technological innovation, talent-driven development and innovation-driven development has reached an unprecedented height. "The introduction of high-end talents is in short supply in various parts of China. Zhejiang's attractiveness lies in the business environment, talent introduction and services, and government and corporate support for project landing."

The "Overseas Students Zhejiang Tour" event has been held for 12 consecutive years. The event has invited more than 1,500 high-level overseas project teams to Zhejiang for inspection and docking, and has helped more than 900 overseas students settle in Zhejiang. According to incomplete statistics, the total investment in the settled projects exceeded 10 billion yuan, driving effective social investment of more than 20 billion yuan.

However, Li Zheng also mentioned that many returnees still encounter problems such as "acclimatization" after returning to China. "Every project leader should learn to adjust their mentality, adapt to the Chinese environment and quickly integrate into it, so as to lead the project to rapid development." (China Youth Daily and China Youth Network reporter Meng Peipei)

Plastic Industry Video