Plans for the 2018 Zhongguancun Forum were released at a Beijing conference on October 18th, with a speech from Hou Yun, deputy director of Zhongguancun Management Committee, and information regarding forum preparations from Xuan Hong, general manager of Zhongguancun Development Group.

The launching ceremony of 2018 Zhongguancun Forum [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2018 Zhongguancun Forum will be held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing from November 2nd to 3rd with the theme "Global Innovation and High-quality Development".

Hou Yun, deputy director of Zhongguancun Management Committee, delivers a speech [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Xuanhong, general manager of Zhongguancun Development Group, discusses forum preparations. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Wang Xiaolan, executive vice chairman of Zhongguancun Entrepreneur Advisory Committee, gives a speech. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

With the permanent theme of "Innovation and Development", the Zhongguancun Forum is a high-level international conference in the field of scientific and technological innovation. It has been held nine times, but this year’s forum is shaping up to be a departure from tradition.

The scale of this form exceeds previous sessions

The invited guests in this year's forum include government leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, researchers, scholars, investors, association organizers and innovative service providers.

In addition to the main and closing forums, there are also five sub-forums. Guests will have discussions on topics such as artificial intelligence and innovative life, industrial Internet innovation, global talent strategy, intellectual property protection, and supply-side reform. The forum is expected to attract over 1,000 participants in two days.

Big names from home and abroad

The forum will welcome famous entrepreneurs, investors and scientists from thirteen countries and regions including China, the United States, Britain, Germany, France and Israel.

On the International level, Mr. Stefan W. Hell, winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry; Sir Peter Bonfield, winner of the Commander of the British Empire, fellow of the Royal Institute of Engineering and Chairman of NXP Semiconductors; and Mr. Peterz Lavie, President of the Israel Institute of Technology, have all confirmed their participation in the event.

On the domestic front, well-known Chinese leading figures will also attend the forum, including Liu Chuanzhi, founder of Lenovo Group; Lei Jun, vice chairman of the National Federation of Industry and Commerce and chairman of Xiaomi Tech; Shi Yigong, foreign academician of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and American National Academy of Sciences foreign member of European Molecular Biology Organization and president of West Lake University; and Li Xiaojia, CEO of Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Innovative ways to participate

The forum has adopted online registration so those who want to participate can head to www.zgcforum.com to register. The website can also be used to make offline appointments with forum participants.