Tianjin launches over 100 maker spaces to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship

Tianjin’s municipal government released a notice to develop maker spaces and promote mass innovation and entrepreneurship in May 2015. It rolled out 10 policies and measures to support the development of maker spaces and encourage mass innovation and entrepreneurship. More than 10 governmental departments, including Tianjin’s Science and Technology Commission, Education Commission, Finance (Local Taxation) Bureau and Human Resources & Social Security Bureau formulated more than 20 detailed measures. Many districts, counties and Binhai New Area, as well as universities and colleges in Tianjin set up maker spaces in abandoned factories, idled houses and commercial facilities for free after renovations.

The city has sped up the construction of maker spaces since 2015. A group of districts, counties and higher education institutes have built such maker spaces to help young entrepreneurs and college students to turn their innovative ideas and entrepreneurial dreams into reality, hoping to encourage more participation in innovation and entrepreneurship in the society.

Tianjin has set a goal that each of the regular undergraduate college, higher vocational college, as well as independent college is expected to have one maker’s space at least, while each of the city’s district, county and Binhai New Area is expected to build three to four maker spaces throughout this year. With more than half a year’s development, maker spaces are springing up across the city. By January 2016, Tianjin has approved a total of 106 maker spaces, including 55 built by districts and counties and 51 in colleges. In early 2015, most maker spaces are located in downtown Tianjin and Binhai New Area, but such maker’s spaces have spread all the over the city.

Maker spaces have experienced the initial stage of development and now are becoming more comprehensive, integrated and professional with the advancement of the city’s promotion of mass innovation, crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, and support for maker spaces. And maker spaces have become an important window for the city to display its innovation and entrepreneurship, a major carrier for gathering innovative and entrepreneurial talents and a key service platform for innovation and entrepreneurship.

About 20 maker spaces including Kerida Cafe, Tianjin Youth Maker Space, Tianjin-Beijing Link Coffee (JJ-Link Coffee) and the Maker Workshop, can enjoy the management, service and support provided by the state and incubators of sci-tech firms. They account for one sixth of the country’s first batch of maker spaces released by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Led by the government, the construction of maker spaces has attracted the active participation of enterprises, universities & colleges, research institutes and social organizations. Maker spaces become an important carrier for entrepreneurial projects.

The maker spaces in districts and counties of Tianjin can be divided into five categories – professional services, incubation of makers, investment promotion, training & instruction, and media extension. About 98 percent of their operators are enterprises, 9 percent of whom are investment organizations that highlight market-oriented development trend and feature marketization. The number of professional services-oriented maker spaces is 26, accounting for 47.3 percent of the city’s total maker spaces. They cover more than 10 industries, including culture & creativity, biotechnology, and high-end equipment manufacturing. About 5,400-plus makers, 1,200 entrepreneurial teams and 1,200 start-ups have settled down in 55 maker spaces across the city, greatly promoting the exchange of innovative entrepreneurial ideas. According to statistics, as of January of 2016, a total of 463 start-ups had been registered, a group of successful examples of entrepreneurship by young people emerged and a raft of fast-growing high-tech companies had been incubated in these maker spaces.