(Yicai Global) March 8 -- Members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference spoke to reporters in Beijing yesterday about chips, the environment for entrepreneurship, investment efforts related to the Belt and Road initiative and other topics. 

Commenting on the topic of semiconductors, Zhou Yumei, who is also a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Microelectronics, said China’s domestically developed chips have been widely used in Beidou satellites, supercomputers and other fields. 

But the sector has a high density of talent, funds and technologies and is also a globally competitive industry. “There is still a gap between Chinese and global cutting-edge technologies, which means we need to step up our investment,” Zhou said in a media interview on the sidelines of the Two Sessions.

When it comes to entrepreneurship and the current business environment, Shen Nanpeng, global managing partner at Sequoia Capital and a member of the CPPCC National Committee, noted that global investors have been impressed as China was the only major economy to achieve growth last year, thanks to its sound start-up system, a huge market and a hard-working labor force.

Local governments are launching incubators and guidance funds, as well as incentives to make it easier for young people to start their own businesses, he said. They also hope to issue more positive policies in the areas of talent, intellectual property protection and market access.

The consensus opinion among his peer investors at home and abroad is that “China is doing more,” Shen added. 

Another CPPCC member, Zhou Yong, deputy general manager of China State Construction Group, said the number of strong supporters and active participants in the Belt and Road initiative has increased. Firms should recruit workers from different nations and regions, and organize various cultural exchange activities at the same time, he said.

Editor: Peter Thomas