Southeast Asia Information Port News (www.dnyxxg.com) The phenomenal success of the "Hangzhou Six Little Dragons" in early 2025 is still fresh in our minds. The recent emergence of 96 new Zhejiang technology "little dragons" further demonstrates the strong vitality of Zhejiang's emerging technology companies. The emergence of these companies signifies that Zhejiang entrepreneurs are focusing their development vision and core driving force on technological innovation as a key engine.
The Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee's Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2025 clearly stated that it is necessary to focus on building an innovative Zhejiang, developing new productive forces according to local conditions, accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system with Zhejiang characteristics, and continuously polishing the "golden name card" of the private economy. This deployment has resonated widely with society. It is generally believed that in an era where technological innovation is placed at the core, Zhejiang entrepreneurs must not only inherit the "Four Thousand Spirits" but also uphold the concept of "technological breakthrough" and a "global vision" to forge new advantages for Zhejiang's high-quality development and competition in the new stage, and bravely shoulder the responsibility in cultivating new productive forces. To promote this transformation of Zhejiang entrepreneurs, efforts need to be precisely focused on three dimensions.
First, building a first-class innovation ecosystem and cultivating a fertile ground for technological development. The emergence of phenomenal companies like the "Hangzhou Six Little Dragons" is no accident; its core lies in Zhejiang's cultivation of fertile ground for nurturing innovation. Similarly, driving Zhejiang entrepreneurs to focus on technology and develop new productive forces requires a sustainable ecosystem for fostering technological innovation. Experts believe this is not simply about selecting or supporting a few star companies, but about building an "innovation rainforest" covering the entire lifecycle of enterprises through systematic institutional design.
"A high-quality innovation ecosystem is the systematic result of the synergistic effect of factors such as systems, platforms, capital, and talent," said Zou Hua, a representative of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress and Party Secretary of the Zhejiang New Generation Entrepreneurs Association. He added that improving corporate financing efficiency, perfecting the innovation service system, and optimizing policy service effectiveness are all crucial for the innovative development of Zhejiang entrepreneurs. Recently, six special funds under the Zhejiang Social Security Science and Technology Innovation Fund were officially launched, with a total investment of over 1.6 billion yuan in initial and planned projects. This "patient capital" is precisely targeted at cutting-edge technology fields, boosting corporate confidence and creating a positive financial environment for Zhejiang entrepreneurs' innovation.
Policy support is equally strong. In 2025, Zhejiang Province issued the "Zhejiang Province Action Plan for Accelerating the Cultivation and Development of High-Quality Enterprises (2025-2027)," which, through precise policy classification and optimized allocation of support resources, ensures that enterprises at different stages of development receive appropriate support. It also supports enterprises' participation in various levels and types of science and technology programs, providing a solid policy guarantee for the cultivation of an "innovation rainforest."
Secondly, it cultivates leading entrepreneurs to guide the direction of industrial transformation. Currently, the industrial structure is rapidly transforming from primarily scale expansion and cost competition to high-end, intelligent, and green development, placing new demands on entrepreneurs' capabilities. The past development path relying on "scale advantage" and "cost-effectiveness" is no longer sustainable. Zhejiang entrepreneurs must achieve a systematic upgrade in their thinking and capabilities, growing into composite leaders with both cutting-edge technological insight and control over industry needs.
"A technology-driven entrepreneur is not merely a label, but a manifestation of a systematic ability to innovate while inheriting traditions and to lead through innovation," says Luo Licheng, a member of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of Ningbo Shenglong Automotive Power System Co., Ltd. He believes this requires entrepreneurs to, on the one hand, forge a technological core and innovation-driven capability, promoting the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation; and on the other hand, reconstruct growth paradigms by adapting to the needs of industrial transformation, seizing opportunities for revolutionary technological breakthroughs, and promoting innovative allocation of factors of production, while optimizing resource allocation globally. Luo Licheng has personally tasted the benefits of innovation—in 2025, his company, relying on its independently developed core technologies, achieved a key breakthrough in the field of mobile methanol energy equipment, pioneering a new application scenario and market space.
Against the backdrop of fierce global technological competition, Zhejiang must rely on a team of leading entrepreneurs capable of overcoming key technologies, defining future products, and expanding into global markets to take the lead in shaping new development advantages.
Thirdly, it is crucial to promote the systematic "renewal" of traditional industries and activate application scenarios for new productive forces. Developing new productive forces does not mean abandoning traditional industries, but rather injecting them with new vitality. For Zhejiang, its large and widespread traditional industries represent the largest application scenario for cultivating new productive forces; and traditional enterprises empowered by new technologies and models can also seize the initiative in the race for technological innovation.
Zhejiang Pincheng Packaging Co., Ltd., located in Cangnan, is a typical example. As a traditional plastic packaging company, facing market saturation, Chairman Zhang Chuansheng and his son Zhang Keng focused on new product development, concentrating on producing high-end packaging products such as thinner plastic woven bags and UV-resistant woven bags. This successfully opened a breakthrough in green, low-carbon, and lightweight transformation, allowing the traditional "plastic industry" to embark on a new path of high-quality development.
As the "15th Five-Year Plan" begins, Zhejiang's traditional industries must seize the opportunities presented by the technological revolution and industrial transformation, and continuously increase investment in science and technology, to achieve a fundamental shift from "scale-driven" to "innovation-driven" growth.
In the past, Zhejiang entrepreneurs, with their pioneering spirit, created a miracle of scale and speed in development. Looking to the future, for Zhejiang to maintain its leading advantage, it must guide its entrepreneurs to prioritize technological innovation, once again standing at the forefront and shouldering the responsibility in the era of developing new productive forces.
