Shanghai kicks off 2026 WeStart international innovation and entrepreneurship competition

Shanghai launched its 2026 WeStart international innovation and entrepreneurship competition on Tuesday, aiming to create an integrated platform for enterprise showcasing, government-enterprise dialogue, resource matching, and fostering innovation.

"This year, we are placing greater emphasis on technology entrepreneurship projects across future industrial sectors," Huang Lihong, director of the Shanghai technology innovation center, said.

"Through partnerships with professional research institutes, large enterprises, new R&D institutions, and high-quality incubators, we've expanded our coverage of early-stage projects in health, energy, materials, manufacturing, and new communication fields."

The three-day event, which began on Monday, unveiled the competition's ecological service system and established an incubation academy. It has also integrated various brand matrices, including the WeStart venture capital conference and the Gateway cross-border community.

During the launch event, award-winning teams from previous competitions signed agreements to establish operations in Shanghai across diverse sectors, including chip design and intermodal transshipment.

Ru Binxin, cofounder of Sailyond Technology, which claimed first prize in 2025, said, "Our company is using AI technology to revolutionize automation equipment in high-end manufacturing. We've developed industry inspection machines that have solved major pain points."