Shanghai's Fuxing Island, positioned as a hub for makers from all across the globe, was officially launched on Thursday, accommodating the first batch of 12 domestic and international incubators as well as 14 innovative startups.

Located in northeast Shanghai's Yangpu district, the island covers a total area of 1.3 square kilometers, projected to nurture emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and adopt urban digital twin perception systems amid the steady advancement of urban renewal and preservation of industrial heritage.

The industrial buildings formerly standing in the island area have been converted into shared laboratories, proof-of-concept centers, and pilot bases, providing a low-cost and open entrepreneurial environment for makers worldwide.

Shanghai's Party secretary Chen Jining attended the launch ceremony on Thursday. In his opening speech, Chen said that efforts should be made to enrich the technology application scenarios and nurture an ecosystem facilitating entrepreneurship on the island.

Emerging technologies such as AI should be better used to empower the governance of urban space and accelerate the digital and green transformation. This is conducive to exploring new spatial governance approaches for megacities like Shanghai, he said.