May 5 is quite a special day for Hangzhou High-tech Zone (Binjiang).

Ten years ago, on this very day, the "5050 Plan" was officially launched by Binjiang government in a bid to attract global talents.

For 10 years, 20,000 high-level talents have moved to Binjiang including 37 Nobel Prize winners, Turing Award winners and 395 talented engineering experts. More than 780 enterprises were set up by the returned high-level overseas professionals, among which 12 have been listed and 13 have become unicorns or quasi-unicorn companies. The overall valuation of the companies exceeds 40.5 billion yuan...

The "5050 Plan" also laid a solid foundation for fostering leading entrepreneurial teams and individuals. Among the newly announced list of seven leading innovative entrepreneurial teams in Hangzhou, five were from the high-tech zone (Binjiang) formed with the support of the "5050 Plan". Binjiang has for years become a major pool of talents in entrepreneurship in Hangzhou and across the province.

Integration of wisdom and resource

Xie Zhizi is one of them. Graduated in Germany, she came back to China bringing with her medical physiotherapy rehabilitation project REPULI Physio and homing it in Binjiang in April 2017.

"Binjiang has gathered many young talents, overseas Chinese returnees, startups, and listed companies, since the local government gives strong support to them. Its '5050 Plan' encourages innovative and skilled high-end talents and professionals to set up their businesses here. It matches with my idea perfectly."Xie said the government reacts promptly to the company's demands and takes all the supportive measures.

Now as a national high-tech enterprise and a "5050 Plan" enterprise in Binjiang District, REPULI Physio is not only granted by the local government financial supports for running the business but also for recruiting talents from home and abroad, whether the recent graduates or the experienced professionals.

For David Lehr from Germany, a co-founder of REPULI Physio, it was not an easy decision to start a business in a country far away from home until Binjiang changed his mind.

"The splendid Qiantang River makes me think deeply, and our life is just like a river, with ups and downs. The art of life is to find a balance between the two. For my profession, I feel inspired by Alibaba and many other innovative companies in this city that there always is a possibility here," said David. "Every Binjianger is striving for the vigorous development of the district, and I am happy to be one of them."

Last year on December 11, Binjiang-based Arcvideo Tech was listed on the Science and Technology Board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It was four years after Sun Yanlong, an alumnus of Zhejiang University, set up his company and built it into a leading one with smart video technology solutions.

Sun and his team are called "the men behind the scenes" as they back up CCTV's smooth live broadcast of the World Cup, the gorgeous screen on Yan'an Road, and also the video-based control center of the smart city system.

"I often introduce Binjiang to my friends who want to start a business. Some of them have already settled down here and got listed," said Sun who views the High-tech Zone (Binjiang) as "the place most like Silicon Valley in the US."

"Binjiang knows exactly when to give a hand," Sun added, "It was a Saturday afternoon when we called the administration for a need to increase our office space and after 10 minutes, the person in charge of the block just showed up in front of us to deal with it. This is just unbelievable."

When asked "why Binjiang", Lai Caida, CEO of METiS Pharmaceuticals said, "Binjiang knows what the entrepreneurs are thinking."

Last year, Lai Caida's business plan stood out in the Hangzhou Creators' Competition. After comparing Hangzhou with places like Shenzhen and Jiangsu, he decided to settle down in Binjiang to develop the AI-driven new pharmaceutical preparations in China.

"Binjiang's digital economy has developed to such an extent that there are many talented people engaged in AI and R & D in medicine, which is a perfect talent pool," Lai said. "We have no worries about attracting talents from outside of Hangzhou as Binjiang provides apartments and rental subsidies for them."

A smarter "5050 Plan"

This year, Binjiang talent e-code has been put into use via "5050 Plan" WeChat Mini program, providing all-round services to the new comers from registering a startup to settling down.

"Key trivial matters." Things like pension, children's education, and medical service are available by "one-click" on the WeChat mini-program.

In addition, the system has also innovatively set up a function of "labelling system". Talents can define their labels, indicating what they can provide or what they need, to find the perfect match and cooperation.

Binjiang plans to double the total number of talents before the 2022 Asian Games. Next, the Xixing block Internet of Things Town Talent House Project and the Puyan Block Smart Medical Town Talent House Project will be rolled out.

It is worth noting that Binjiang has also signed cooperation agreements with China Zheshang Bank, Bank of Hangzhou, Hangzhou United Bank and other financial institutes to launch a "5050 Financial Support Plan". In the next five years, it will invest 15 billion yuan to grant credit for talent loans and ease the companies' financing difficulties.

Moreover, 12 incubators across the world including the US, Australia, Canada and Korea, will become part of Binjiang's super incubator to facilitate the localization of international innovation projects.