As part of the 2026 Zhongguancun (ZGC) Forum Annual Conference underway in Beijing, the ZGC International Technology Trade Fair opened on Wednesday, offering new platforms and services to accelerate commercialization of innovations and promote global technology trade. Under the theme "Buy Globally, Sell Globally," the fair will host around 20 events and feature the debut of more than 500 high-tech projects.
One highlight is the "Orange Shop," a play on the Chinese word for "achievement shop," which showcases the latest scientific and technological advances. Innovations developed in laboratories can be exhibited both online and onsite at the venue, helping connect them with potential buyers and partners.
Another notable feature is the presence of a team of consultants in blue vests. Dubbed by their outfits, these technology managers are selected from universities, research institutes and tech parks, helping research results move toward real-world applications. "We offer a series of targeted services in investment, consulting, intellectual property, and scientific-technological incubation. We feel very much honored and proud to see that more and more new products of science and technology have been able to find suitable application scenarios as a result of incubation service provided by us," said Yang Lu, one of the "blue vests" at the fair.
Their work reflects a broader effort to strengthen the link between research and industry across Beijing and beyond.
"We are committed to keeping advancing in-depth integration of technological and industrial innovation and keeping fostering new quality productive forces to inject fresh momentum into development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei International Science and Technology Innovation Center," said Liu Qiang, deputy manager of ZGC Technology Service, host of the trade fair.
Founded in 2007 with the permanent theme "Innovation and Development," the ZGC Forum has grown into a global, open, and high-level platform for advancing global science and technology innovation.
The 2026 Zhongguancun (ZGC) Forum Annual Conference runs from March 25 to 29.
ZGC International Technology Trade Fair opens in Beijing to accelerate technology commercialization
Global institutions are being weakened at a time when they should be reinforced, the well-known Singapore scholar, Kishore Mahbubani, warned on Wednesday at the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2026 in south China's Hainan Province.
Mahbubani, founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore, spoke at a BFA high-level panel themed "Injecting Certainty into an Uncertain World." He said that all humanity lives in a small global village, pointing to challenges ranging from climate change and financial crises to oil price volatility as evidence of interconnectedness.
"We are entering a new era of world history and that new era is marked very clearly. The data is there. By the end of the era of Western domination of world history and the return of Asia, all of humanity now, all eight billion of us, we used to think that we live in a very large planet Earth. No, we no longer live in a large planet Earth. We live in a small global village. And every day you get evidence that we are living in a small global village. And if you look at the challenges that we face, whether it's climate change, global financial crisis, oil prices, one village that we live in," said Mahbubani.
Mahbubani warned that weakening global governance could prove a serious mistake, but remained optimistic, saying that solutions exist and humanity can still build a more certain world.
"We are weakening institutions of global governance at a time when we should be strengthening them. And I think when future historians write about our time, they'll see it as an act of great folly on our part for failing to strengthen our global village councils at this time. So at the end of the day, even though I have emphasized that the challenges that we face, enormous, there are solutions, and we shouldn't despair. We can create a world of certainty," said Mahbubani.
The BFA Annual Conference 2026 opened on Tuesday with the theme of "Shaping a Shared Future: New Dynamics, New Opportunities, New Cooperation." It will run to Friday.
Founded in 2001, the forum has grown into a key platform for addressing Asian issues and strengthening cooperation both within the region and globally.
Well-known Singapore scholar warns of weakening global governance, stresses certainty achievable
