In 2026, Shanghai Technology Innovation Center (STIC), serving as the coordinator, jointly launched the “Global Entrepreneurship Connection (GEC)”, together with the first cohort of 25 local incubators and service providers from Shanghai’s inno-ecosystem.

Guided by the principle of “Co-creating & Co-sharing”, the GEC brings together Shanghai-based incubators/accelerators with sector-specific expertise and/or distinctive service capability; unite domestic and international experts who possess industrial resources and/or proven cross-border experience; and establishes strategic linkages with high-quality overseas partners to advance outcome-oriented cross-border collaboration.

GEC members are encouraged to organize thematic events and acceleration programs aimed at helping overseas tech-SMEs land in Shanghai and assisting local ones in expanding globally.

A representative example is “WeStart 2026 Entrepreneurial Investment Conference (WeStart)”. Built around the theme on "One Conference, One Competition, One Exhibition", WeStart stimulates the dynamic vitality of innovation and entrepreneurship, and serves as an international resource-matching platform facilitating two-way connections between projects and capital. GEC Members actively contribute to the design and execution of WeStart-related initiatives—including sub-competitions, matchmaking sessions, and acceleration services—with the goal of enabling substantive, sustainable collaboration between globally competitive tech-startups and Shanghai’s innovation ecosystem.