Tongji, Jiading join hands to build knowledge economic circle

Li Huacheng and Hu Min

TONGJI University has rolled out another major initiative as it will joint Jiading District to build the “tongji Knowledge economy Circle in Jiading 2.0.”

Tongji revealed the plan on May 25 at the “2025 tongji-Jiading Infinite Intelligent technology Innovation and Industrialization Conference,” while Jiading announced the launch of a new round of planning for the construction of the circle.

The conference focused on fields like new energy vehicles, intelligent transportation and artificial intelligence. It promoted the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the cultivation of new productive forces to boost innovation-driven high-quality economic development.

The “tongji Knowledge economy Circle in Jiading 2.0” is expected to create an “explosion point” of in-novation origination, continuously generating new quality productive forces to support regional industrial development.

The university will focus on three clusters — AI, modern transporta-tion and equipment manufacturing. It will drive the development of robotics, intelligent transportation and smart manufacturing indus-trial clusters.

Tongji will spare no effort to promote government-industry-academia-research development, according to Xiao Xiaoling, general manager of tongji Innovation and entrepreneurship holdings Co Ltd and director of the Management of-fice of tongji University national University Science and technology Park.

It will build three economic circles worth 100 billion yuan (US$13.9 billion) each in Shanghai’s Yangpu, Jiading and Putuo districts.