The Ontario-Beijing Innovation Forum 2015 (OBIF 2015) co-hosted by Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission and Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation , organized by ChinaWorth Global Tech Consulting (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Beijing-Ontario Scientific and Technical Innovation Cooperation Center, and co-organized by the Embassy of Canada to China, Administrative Committee of Zhongguancun Haidian Science Park, Beijing Technology Market Association, and Beijing Haidian Cultural Creative Industry Association was successfully held on November 13 in Beijing. Ontario Center of Excellence, Canada China Angel Investment Alliance, 500px, Visual China Group and other organizations signed projects by group. During OBIF 2015, B2B matchmaking and discussion was organized between the Canadian and Chinese sides with respect to 170 projects for some of which tentative agreement was reached.
Ms. Hon. Premier Kathleen Wynne, Government of Ontario, and Mr. Zhao Pu, Canadian Ambassador to China, among others, attending the plenary session and signing ceremony
Focusing on “economic and technological integration, innovation and win-win cooperation”, OBIF 2015 comprises four parts, i.e. Plenary Session and Signing Ceremony, Keynote Speech, Panel Discussion and “One-to-One” Matchmaking. Over 300 representatives are invited, including those from 30 businesses and organizations of Canada and those from hi-tech enterprises, research institutes and universities of Beijing and other provinces across China. Mr. Hu Wenliang, Secretary of CPC Committee of Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, Mr. Han Dong, Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Ms. Gu Yanfeng, Head of Division of American and Oceania Affairs, Department of International Cooperation, MOST, Mr. Bill Mantel, Assistant Deputy Minister of Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and other government officials attended and spoke at the forum. Mr. Wallace Siu Lun Ip, Head of Science and Technology Group, Commercial Section, Embassy of Canada, and Ms. Huang Lei, Deputy Head of Division of Foreign Cooperation, Administrative Committee of Zhongguancun Haidian Science Park also attended the forum.
Mr. Chen Gang, Head of Department of International Collaboration, Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission moderated the Speech session. Mr. Hu Wenliang said in his speech that Beijing is keen to deepen cooperation with Ontario for common development, and work with Ontario to further improve cooperation mechanisms and platforms, enhance mutual understanding, promote collaborative research and technology transfer around areas of innovation, and share science and technology progress and achievements. He also hoped that more Canadian innovative businesses and organizations would cooperate with and land Beijing, and more Chinese businesses and organizations would go to Canada for common development. In his speech Mr. Han Dong said, science and technology is the foundation of knowledge economy. As one of the most promising sectors in Ontario, science and technology has broad prospects in life science, clean technology, ICT and other industries. In her speech Ms. Gu Yanfeng highlighted tremendous prospect and market potential of clean energy in China, said innovation cooperation with Ontario is highly valued by MOST, and finally proposed cooperation on biomedicine, clean energy and similar areas.
Mr. Chen Gang, Head of Department of International Collaboration, Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission moderating OBIF 2015
Mr. Hu Wenliang, Secretary of CPC Committee of Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, making remarks
Mr. Han Dong, Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), making remarks
Ms. Gu Yanfeng, Head of Division of American and Oceania Affairs, Department of International Cooperation, MOST, making remarks
Dr. Yideer, Department of International Collaboration, Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, and Ms. He Shuxian, Senior Policy Advisor at Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, moderated the Keynote Speech session. Dr. Tom Corr, President and CEO of Ontario Centres of Excellence, Mr. Any Yang, CEO of 500px, Mr. Chen Hongbo, Deputy General Manager of TusPark, Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS, Mr. Wang Jun, VP of Technology/Operation of Visual China Group, Dr. William E. Reichman, President and CEO at Baycrest Health Sciences Centre, Dr. Michael May, CEO at Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine, Mr. Wang Shaojie, President of Zhongguancun Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, Dr. Marat Ressin, President of York Entrepreneurship Development Institute (YEDI), and Ms. Mahin Derakhshanian, VP of Enterlegis, introduced their respective organizations and projects. During the Panel Discussion session moderated by Ms. Jane He, CEO of Signority, Dr. Wang Haisheng, Deputy General Manager (Research), Beijing Haiyan Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., affiliated with Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group, Dr. John Capone, Vice President (Research) of University of Western Ontario, and Mr. Peter Liu, Founder of Canada China Angel Investment Alliance, shared a series of success stories relating to Canadian-Chinese science and technology cooperation.
Dr. Tom Corr, President and CEO of Ontario Centres of Excellence, introducing his organization and opportunities for cooperation
Mr. Any Yang, CEO of 500px, introducing his company and opportunities for cooperation
Mr. Chen Hongbo, Deputy General Manager of TusPark, delivering a keynote speech titled “Building Innovation Network and Promoting International Cooperation”
Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS, introducing her organization and opportunities for cooperation
Representatives from 30 businesses and organizations of Ontario carrying over 80 cutting-edge technologies seek out opportunities for cooperation with Chinese counterparts through the forum. Representative technology projects include the big data analysis and visualization project of Center for Innovation in Information Visualization and Data-Driven Design, York University, Ontario; cloud security technology, wearable ECG monitoring, molecular diagnosis and other projects of Goldenmount Capital International Inc.; inGear transmission project of inMotive; multilingual semantic data collection project of Knowtions Research Inc.; automatic shoe solution and mobile App projects of Podo Technology Inc.; medicine, ICT and energy projects of PUDU Technology Investment Inc.; mother-infant service project of Dapasoft Inc.; brain health assessment tool project of Cogniciti; new energy, Li-ion battery material, among others, of SPI Limited. These selected projects have garnered lots of attention.
Matchmaking and discussion was organized for over 170 projects at the “One-to-One” session held in the afternoon, and tentative agreement was reached for a number of projects. Representatives from Canadian and Chinese businesses took an active part in communication and matchmaking with a view of finding cooperation opportunities. OBIF 2015, which has been highly regarded by delegates, cannot succeed without adequate preparation, including deep project data mining, classification, reorganization, translation and strict screening of information, and survey on technologies required by Chinese businesses. Delegates thanked the hosts for providing a valuable face-to-face communication opportunity for Canadian and Chinese businesses and hoped that more similar events and activities would be conducted in the future to provide Canadian-Chinese businesses with communication and matchmaking platforms and promote international cooperation.
Professor Brent Sleep, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto, communicating with representatives of Chinese business
Mr. Han Dong expressed his thanks and praise to Ms. Zhang Hongyu, General Manager of ChinaWorth and her team for their hard working
By holding OBIF and promoting bilateral technology transfer and innovation cooperation between Canada and China, Beijing-Ontario Scientific and Technical Innovation Cooperation Center (BOSTIC) has become an exemplary model for similar mechanisms and played an active role in pushing relevant industries forward. As the first innovation cooperation center between Canada and Beijing, BOSTIC aims to promote exchange and communication between hi-tech businesses, R&D and training institutions, parks and incubators of Beijing and Ontario, focus on driving development of emerging industries, facilitate cooperation between Canadian and Chinese tech businesses with respect to technology transfer, licensed use, R&D cooperation, joint venture production, investment and M&A, and transformation of creative achievements, and create an international service platform integrating exhibition, cooperation, communication and development for businesses of both countries.
ChinaWorth, as the executing agency of BOSTIC, has started with Ontario-Beijing cooperation, gradually extended bilateral innovation cooperation mechanisms and resources throughout Canada with a view to developing a “Canada-China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Cooperation Platform”, responding to and supporting “entrepreneurship and innovation by all” through international technology transfer, and planned to introduce innovation resources and high-end venture teams from Canada and U.S. to Beijing and China, facilitate the landing and transformation of high-end scientific and technological achievements, and incubate a number of local businesses having cutting-edge technologies and ability to solve real-life problems. Besides, ChinaWorth will use Beijing’s natural resources to expand its presence and drive scientific and technological innovation cooperation across China for boosting local economies in an effective and farreaching manner.