The 2017 Shanghai Jiading Science and Technology Expo opens in Jiading district, Shanghai on Sept 16. [Photo/ jiading.gov.cn]

The 2017 Shanghai Jiading Science and Technology Expo opened in Shanghai's Jiading district on Sept 16, celebrating the district's achievements in promoting innovation over the last three years.

"The expo promotes the integrated development of production, study, research and application," said Ma Chunlei, Party secretary of Jiading district.

Ma added that the district's industrial parks had made big breakthroughs in technological innovation thanks to three years of unremitting effort.

Major projects have achieved breakthroughs in research, parks have made great strides in transferring new technologies to industrial-scale production, and the district has made significant improvements in environmental protection, according to Ma.

The Party secretary said that Jiading has ambitious goals for the next stage of its development: making production more soft, intelligent and precise; focusing on the "four new industries" and creating an economy led by advanced manufacturing and high-tech industries; ensuring emerging industries have the talents, social funds and financial capital to grow strongly; integrating industry and finance to provide adequate funding; providing all-round support for start-ups and their spouses, children and elders; and making sure the government is geared toward serving companies.

Jiading launched a number of initiatives designed to help the district achieve these goals during the expo.

The district appointed ambassadors to seven countries to help it attract world-class talent from overseas.

Deals were signed for several joint projects by Chinese and Swedish organizations to create micro-tech innovation centers and institutes to help integrate the research work of companies, universities and research centers.

A launch ceremony was also held for a new group innovation space, which will focus on helping start-ups with branding, internationalizing their businesses and expanding overseas.

Meanwhile, an awards ceremony at the expo also celebrated the achievements of local researchers and entrepreneurs.