I. The "Ningbo Municipal Regulations on Science and Technology Innovation" Have Been Issued and Put into Effect

On June 1, 2025, our city officially implemented the *Ningbo Regulations on Science and Technology Innovation*. The Regulations thoroughly implement the requirements to "coordinately advance the integrated reform of the systems and mechanisms for education, science and technology, and talent" and to "cultivate and develop new-quality productive forces." Comprising nine chapters and 65 articles—including General Provisions, Basic and Applied Research, Enterprise Science and Technology Innovation, Commercialization of Scientific and Technological Achievements, Science and Technology Talent, Regional Science and Technology Innovation, Science and Technology Innovation Ecosystem, Legal Liability, and Supplementary Provisions—the Regulations help foster a high-quality ecosystem for comprehensive and coordinated innovation and a standardized and orderly governance environment for science and technology innovation. They provide a legal framework to empower the city's high-quality economic and social development through scientific and technological innovation.

II. Ningbo Dongfang University of Science and Technology Approved for Establishment

On November 28, 2025, Ningbo Oriental University of Science and Technology—a new type of research university characterized by high standards, a compact yet elite structure, innovation, and internationalization, established by private entities with key national support and jointly developed by provincial and municipal governments—was officially inaugurated. The university received approval from the Ministry of Education in June 2025, with Chen Shiyi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, serving as its president. Over the past five years of preparation, the university has attracted 16 academicians and 61 nationally recognized talents, published over 700 high-quality papers (including 6 in CNS journals), secured approval for five provincial-level research platforms, and obtained more than 3 billion yuan in research funding. The university's first international academic journal, *Sustainable Horizons*, achieved an initial impact factor of 7.7 and is ranked in the JCR Q1 category for environmental science journals, placing it at the forefront of the field.

III. Our city has achieved new results in cooperation between central and local governments, research institutes and local governments, and universities and local governments

To further enhance the city's capacity for scientific and technological innovation, Ningbo has continued to deepen cooperation models between central and local governments, research institutions and local governments, and universities and local governments. The city has actively sought to attract and leverage national resources to empower local innovation entities, promote industrial transformation and development, and build an open innovation ecosystem. In 2025, Ningbo signed a new round of strategic cooperation agreements with the National Natural Science Foundation of China to expand and enhance the existing District Innovation Joint Fund, and pioneered the establishment of the Ningbo Private Enterprise Joint Fund; We signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement with Zhejiang University. Guided by the overall framework of "one college, one center, and two hospitals," we are jointly advancing in-depth collaboration in scientific and technological innovation, education and talent development, and healthcare, elevating city-university cooperation to a new level; we also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China National Chemical Engineering Group to collaborate in industrial engineering, infrastructure, new chemical materials, ecological environmental protection, and scientific research and innovation, and to advance the establishment of the China National Chemical Engineering Group's Yangtze River Delta Science and Technology Innovation Center; We deepened our strategic cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) by implementing the "Special Initiative to Deepen Scientific and Technological Exchange and Cooperation Between Various Innovation Entities in Ningbo and CAS Affiliated Units." Throughout the year, we facilitated 261 preliminary agreements for industry-university-research collaboration between CAS institutions and enterprises, with a total value exceeding 200 million yuan.

IV. Ningbo's Cutting-Edge Technology Provides Strong Support for the September 3 Military Parade

On September 3, 2025, a grand military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War was held at Tiananmen Square, with numerous cutting-edge technological achievements from Ningbo providing technical support. Independent R&D achievements from the Ningbo Branch of the Academy of Military Sciences were applied in the parade command vehicle and more than 20 pieces of equipment on display, earning honors such as "Advanced Unit of the Military Parade" and "Cornerstone of a Strong Nation, Model of the Defense Industry." Yinwang Acoustics Co., Ltd. custom-manufactured 3,500 sets of high-fidelity sound reinforcement speakers for the viewing stands at Tiananmen Square and the parade command center; Ningbo NIDE Tech Co., Ltd. developed high-end automated motor production lines, providing stable and reliable power support for multiple types of parade equipment.

V. The number of high-tech enterprises in our city has surpassed 10,000, marking a new milestone in the cultivation of technology-based enterprises.

By 2025, the number of active high-tech enterprises in our city will exceed 10,000, with the growth rate ranking first in the province for four consecutive years. Our city continues to strengthen the central role of enterprises in technological innovation. We issued and implemented the "Ningbo Action Plan for Accelerating the Cultivation of ‘Double Ten-Thousand' Technology Enterprises (Trial)," focusing on building a "Double Ten-Thousand" enterprise cohort—where both the number of high-tech enterprises and the number of enterprises above a certain scale engaged in R&D activities exceed 10,000. We have refined the cultivation framework of "technology-based SMEs—high-tech enterprises—‘Gazelle Star' enterprises—single-champion enterprises" and established a closed-loop support mechanism covering the entire growth lifecycle of technology enterprises. To accelerate the cultivation of high-growth technology enterprises at the source, the city selected 67 "Gazelle Star" enterprises for the first time—companies characterized by novel market segments, strong talent leadership, optimal development models, and rapid growth. A dynamic cultivation and growth mechanism has been established to enhance enterprises' original innovation capabilities and promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation.

VI. Researcher Li Lin of the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been elected as a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering

On November 21, 2025, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering announced the results of the 2025 election of new members. Researcher Li Lin of the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was elected as a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Academician Li Lin serves as Director of the Center for Laser Extreme Manufacturing at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering and as a member of the Institute's Academic Committee. She has long been engaged in research in the fields of laser advanced manufacturing engineering and micro-nano optics, focusing on the engineering applications of laser processing and cutting-edge basic research in super-resolution optical imaging. She has achieved a series of significant scientific accomplishments, and her original research findings have been practically applied in fields such as aircraft engine manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, and semiconductor chip manufacturing, yielding significant economic benefits.

VII. China (Cities) – Central and Eastern European Countries Open Innovation Cooperation Index Released in Ningbo; Ningbo Ranks 5th

On May 22, 2025, the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Youth Science and Technology Talent Exchange Event was held in Ningbo. The National Science and Technology Evaluation Center, in collaboration with the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Innovation Cooperation Research Center, released the second edition of the "China (City)-Central and Eastern European Countries Open Innovation Cooperation Index" at the event. Leveraging its strengths in port-based economy and open platforms, Ningbo has promoted bilateral trade and cultural exchanges between China and Central and Eastern European countries through a "port + industry + openness" model, ranking fifth overall.

Ⅷ. Universal Gravity Unveils First Domestically Produced Space Computing Chip

On November 27, 2025, Wan You Yin Li (Ningbo) Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., a startup incubated by the Yongjiang Laboratory, unveiled China's first full-featured dedicated MR chip for spatial computing and a full-stack spatial computing solution. The chip utilizes an internationally advanced 5nm manufacturing process and features a completely redesigned underlying architecture, enabling XR devices to accurately interpret three-dimensional spatial environments; Combined with supporting functional chips for artificial intelligence, augmented reality, spatial rendering, and display, it has established a complete technological ecosystem spanning from underlying computing power to end-user applications. This will provide robust domestic computing power support for smart devices such as XR terminals, robots, and drones.

Ⅸ. Ningbo was selected for three pilot tasks under the Ministry of Science and Technology's innovation points-based "challenge-based" initiative, ranking first among cities with separate planning status.

On December 26, 2025, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced the shortlist for the innovation credit-based "challenge-based" initiative. Among the entries, three projects organized and submitted by our city—the "Plan for Building an ‘1+X' Holistic Evaluation System for Technology Enterprises Based on AI and Big Data," the " "Construction Plan for Ningbo's ‘Research Value Online' Digital Intelligence Infrastructure," and "Reform Plan for a New Mechanism of Enterprise Risk Sharing in Batch Credit Support Based on ‘Innovation Points'"—all three tasks successfully made the shortlist, ranking first among cities with separate planning status. In recent years, our city has actively explored new models of financial support for technological innovation, innovatively launching the "Challenge-Based Selection" initiative for risk sharing in technology credit and establishing a diversified risk-sharing mechanism among financial institutions; It has advanced the high-level development of the Ningbo National Insurance Innovation Comprehensive Pilot Zone, pioneering the country's first major R&D scenario-based application insurance, with a cumulative total of 62 insured projects and coverage amounting to nearly 1.4 billion yuan; adhering to the principle of "investing early, in small-scale, and in hard technology," it has invested in 580 seed-stage and startup-stage projects, fostering a cumulative total of 169 national high-tech enterprises and 27 listed companies (11 of which are based in Ningbo).

X. The Engineer Technology Center of the National Academy of Outstanding Engineers at Dalian University of Technology was officially inaugurated in Ningbo.

On October 30, 2025, the Engineer Technology Center of the National Academy of Outstanding Engineers at Dalian University of Technology was officially inaugurated at the university's Ningbo Research Institute. The center is dedicated to building an integrated platform for the development of "education, science and technology, and talent," ensuring that talent cultivation aligns more closely with the needs of Ningbo's new-quality productive forces and industrial clusters. As a significant achievement of university-local collaboration, the Ningbo Research Institute has trained a total of 584 graduate students to date.

Source: The Top 10 Scientific and Technological Innovation Events of 2025 in Ningbo Announced