Beijing, August 27 (Report) — At the just-concluded HICOOL 2024 Global Entrepreneur Summit, reporters met entrepreneurs from all over the world. Among them were the founder of the once globally popular game Angry Birds, a young Zambian doing mineral business in China, a diplomat from Cuba, the head of an international summit, and a German businessman selling brain-computer interfaces. They brought a wide variety of products and startup projects, and their eyes were unanimously fixed on the Chinese market.

　　The HICOOL 2024 Global Entrepreneur Summit was held from the 23rd to the 25th at the China International Exhibition Center (Shunyi, Beijing). The summit covered multiple segments including startup competitions, forums and exhibitions, and project signings, creating a world-class exchange and cooperation platform for outstanding entrepreneurial talent and projects from around the globe.

  The scene of the HICOOL 2024 Global Entrepreneur Summit 

　　Upon entering the exhibition hall, a crystal-clear raw amethyst on the Zambian company's booth immediately drew many visitors to stop. Curious, the reporter picked up the heavy stone and asked in English: "How much is it?" Surprisingly, a young Zambian man responded in fluent Chinese: "We don't sell this individually; in China it's usually wholesale. A piece like this is worth about 70,000 to 80,000 RMB."

　　The young man's name is Milimo Zumbunu. After graduating from Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2018, he recognized China's enormous market potential and decided to stay here to engage in the Zambian mineral business. Over the past year, his income has grown rapidly, nearly doubling every month.

　　He said, "In recent years, China-Africa cooperation has provided us with excellent opportunities. Facing a huge market with strong demand, we are striving to become better businessmen." Milimo also specifically mentioned that his affection for China originally stemmed from the Tanzania-Zambia Railway — the route he must take every time he goes home. Once a young man who sat on the China-aided railway from dawn to dusk, he never imagined that one day he would be promoting his hometown's gemstones at an expo in China. An invisible bond seems to have long connected him closely with China.

  The amethyst promoted at the Zambian company's booth

　　Milimo's judgment of the Chinese market coincides with the view of Marten Rauschenberg, CEO of the Asia Berlin Summit. Marten exclaimed, "The scale of China's startup market is astonishing, Beijing's entrepreneurial ecosystem is very vibrant, and I am full of confidence in the Chinese market."

　　Marten introduced that at this summit he had in-depth exchanges with several Chinese companies in the electric vehicle sector. These companies proudly shared with him their joint ventures and cooperation with German automakers. "German domestic automakers are well aware that future development is inseparable from Chinese component manufacturers, automakers, and software developers, especially in the field of artificial intelligence, such as global traffic analysis technology and mobility solutions. We must cooperate. This is exactly the future opportunity I see."

　　Peter Vesterbacka, founder of the game Angry Birds, after achieving great success in the gaming field, turned his attention to China's study-abroad market. He partnered with Chinese colleagues to open a study-abroad agency that helps Chinese students study in Finland and guides them on how to start businesses.

　　Referring to the recently popular game Black Myth: Wukong, he said, "I think this is an example of the maturity of China's gaming ecosystem, and it also demonstrates China's excellence in technology and talent. This is also why many international gaming companies choose to set up offices in China — because China has a large pool of high-level talent."

  Peter Vesterbacka, founder of the game Angry Birds, interviewed by China News Service 

　　In addition, Sofía Ancheta, Commercial Counselor of the Cuban Embassy in China, also told China News Service, "China is one of the most important economies in the world and has created all the necessary conditions for attracting foreign investment."

　　German businessman David Wiehls, who came to China to sell brain-computer interfaces, said, "We chose China for many reasons, but the main one is that technology has become deeply integrated into Chinese people's daily lives. We believe China is an ideal market."

　　In the 2023 World Top 100 Science and Technology Clusters published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, 24 Chinese clusters were listed, with the number ranking first in the world for the first time. Among them, "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" took second place, and Beijing and the "Shanghai-Suzhou" cluster also entered the top five. A huge demand market, world-class technical talent, an open and cooperative business environment, and a top-tier level of technological development... all have become reasons for global entrepreneurs to firmly choose China.

　　The HICOOL Global Entrepreneur Summit was first held in 2020. Over the past five years, the summit has attracted 32,000 entrepreneurial talents and 24,000 startup projects from 145 countries and regions to compete, incubated 16 "unicorn" companies and 127 "specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative" enterprises, and the award-winning projects have raised more than 36 billion RMB in new financing after the competition.