According to an expert, after years of development, Shenzhen's pilot testing system for transforming scientific and technological achievements has begun to take shape. The system is primarily characterized by enterprises, especially private ones, serving as the main drivers of innovation. Unlike Beijing's model, which relies heavily on universities and research institutes, or Shanghai's approach centered on state-owned and foreign capital, Shenzhen's technological innovation is fundamentally driven by market demand. This ensures that the pilot testing phase is naturally closer to industrial application, resulting in higher conversion efficiency.
The city's innovation success is underpinned by a structure where "6 key 90% figures" highlight the dominance of enterprises, necessitating that pilot testing platform development closely aligns with business needs, particularly those of core companies in the industrial chain. The Shenzhen government plays a supportive rather than dominant role, using policy guidance, funding, and optimizing the business environment to stimulate market vitality. For instance, the city has introduced measures providing up to 10 million yuan in post-establishment funding for recognized pilot testing bases, a typical market-oriented incentive.
Policy design emphasizes a full-chain innovation ecosystem, currently being refined to include basic research, technological攻关, industrialization,科技金融, and talent support. Pilot testing is explicitly integrated as a key link in this chain. Shenzhen's 14th Five-Year Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation proposes building a comprehensive incubation and cultivation system, with systematic support for concept verification, pilot testing and maturation, and incubation acceleration.
Consequently, Shenzhen has initially established a multi-level, multi-entity, multi-functional pilot testing service network to meet the needs of its "20+8" strategic emerging industrial clusters and future industries. The system architecture features a progressive service model with concept verification centers, small and medium-scale pilot testing bases, and public technical service platforms as core nodes. Regionally, districts like Guangming Science City focus on cutting-edge fields such as synthetic biology, while Futian explores models involving social capital, and Luohu plans public service platforms.
Representative progress in pilot testing platform construction includes the密集出台 of policies and regulations, precise and substantial funding—including direct construction grants and requirements for over 30% of municipal R&D funds to target basic research—and the effective operation of major platforms in areas like third-generation semiconductors.
These platforms address common industry pain points. In semiconductors, they mitigate high prototyping costs and long validation cycles for new materials and processes, offering shared, low-cost MPW services. In biopharma, they provide GMP-standard CDMO services, solving issues related to lack of compliant facilities and expertise for startups. However, challenges remain, including the sustainability of quasi-public platforms reliant on government funding, a shortage of high-level,复合型 talent, and underdeveloped evaluation standards.
To maintain technological advancement, establishing sustainable investment and upgrade mechanisms is crucial. This involves diversifying funding sources, dynamic technology roadmap planning by expert committees, and exploring models like "service-for-equity" to align platform收益 with startup growth.
Barriers for large enterprises opening their pilot testing facilities include intellectual property risks, operational costs, and management complexities. Shenzhen addresses these through policy incentives, such as innovation vouchers subsidizing SME access to services, and promoting independent, market-operated third-party platforms.
Pilot testing platforms should function as objective assessors of technology readiness levels (TRL), elevating technologies from lab-scale validation to system-level verification. They also act as catalysts for new standards. For future industries like synthetic biology, Shenzhen is exploring innovative risk-sharing mechanisms, such as combined grant-and-equity government support, IP capitalization, and收益 distribution models that create self-sustaining ecosystems.
The Hetao Cooperation Zone is distinguished by its focus on international pilot testing and industrialization ("from 1 to N"), leveraging deep Hong Kong collaboration and unique cross-border regulatory advantages. Practical "small-cut" institutional innovations, like cross-border IP securitization and project selection mechanisms, have facilitated successful collaborations, such as a Hong Kong university's optical chip project achieving validation and investment in Hetao.
Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, recommendations for strengthening Shenzhen's system include enhancing network coordination among dispersed platforms, establishing a unified municipal TRL assessment center to boost data credibility, and further facilitating cross-border flows of research elements. A systematic approach involving spatial planning, standardization with Hong Kong, internationalization of要素流动, and legal frameworks clarifying platform status and data rights is advised to build a world-class pilot testing service platform.