Cities
Your city and park decide which programmes you can join, who you can hire and how far your team travels each day. We start with Shanghai, where we're setting up our own company, and look at Hangzhou or other cities when they fit you better.
Shanghai
Shanghai's districts each run their own parks, with their own focus and their own packages for new companies. These are the areas we look at first for founders in tech and AI.
Pudong
Zhangjiang Science City 张江科学城
Shanghai's AI and tech cluster, about 25 minutes from the centre by metro, with a deep pool of people to hire.
Pudong, by Dishui Lake
Lingang New Area 临港新片区
A free-trade special area with generous startup packages and cross-border data access. About an hour and a half from the centre.
Minhang
Zizhu high-tech zone 紫竹高新区
A high-tech zone built around its links with universities, in the south-west of the city.
Xuhui and other central districts
Downtown districts 中心城区
Central districts run their own clusters, such as the West Bund in Xuhui for AI. The shortest commute for a team that lives in town.
What parks offer
Many parks offer some mix of rent-free or low-rent space, compute subsidies, talent housing, startup grants and help with permits. Packages change often and differ by company size: many one-person company (OPC) programmes cap at about 10 staff.
We keep the current offers, park by park, for our clients, and check each one against the park's written policy.
Choosing a park
The best package on paper isn't always the best place to build. We weigh these with you before we make a single call.
01
Where your team lives
Commutes decide who stays. Some parks are 25 minutes from the centre by metro; others take an hour and a half.
02
Who you need to hire
Some areas have a deeper pool of engineers, researchers or sales staff than others.
03
Access to overseas networks
If your product depends on overseas services or moving data across the border, some areas have rules that help.
04
Your size, now and later
Many startup packages, including one-person company (OPC) programmes, cap at about 10 staff. We check what happens when you outgrow one.
05
Rent and the address
Many parks offer rent-free or low-rent space. We check the address will be accepted for registration, and what the terms become later.
06
Grants you qualify for
Compute subsidies, talent housing and startup grants each have their own conditions. We check which you would actually meet.
07
Permit routes
Some parks help with work permits for the companies they host. That matters if you're bringing people from abroad.
08
What's in writing
Since 1 August 2024, fair-competition rules limit the selective subsidies and tax breaks a park can give one company. We weigh written policy over verbal offers.
Also consider
An AI and e-commerce hub, about an hour from Shanghai by high-speed train, with its own local programmes for new companies.
Our note: A Hangzhou company is its own legal entity, not a branch of a Shanghai one. If you want Hangzhou's local programmes, plan to register there.
Worth a look if
- Your team, customers or partners are in Hangzhou
- You build in AI or e-commerce
- A Hangzhou programme suits you better than any in Shanghai
Other cities on request
Shenzhen, Beijing, Suzhou or somewhere else? Tell us where and why. We'll say plainly whether we can help there, and who we'd work with if we can.
Ask about a cityNot sure which city fits?
Tell us what you're building and where your team will live. We'll suggest the parks worth a call and what to ask them.