Why Xian has some way to go to become an innovation hub

Shang Weiping founded his own company when he was a 28-year-old graduate student at the technology-focused Xidian University in Xian, the ancient capital of west China and present-day capital of Shaanxi province.

His firm, Sharpen Info Tech, has developed and patented a communication technology that does not rely on pre-existing infrastructure, a form of decentralised wireless network that works without routers or access points. The next step is to take that technology from the laboratory stage to large-scale commercial use.

That might sounds easy enough in a city bent on becoming a major technology hub, one of 17 recently singled out as such by the State Council – China’s cabinet – and allowed to offer favourable policies to spur innovation.

But a lack of local industries suitable for his product – or “applicable scenarios” – means Shang has found it difficult so far to commercialise it on any reasonable scale. The company sold one patent to Huawei Technologies two years ago, but Shang knows he can’t rely on selling technology to big companies.

To create a sizeable business, it is vital that he finds scenarios in which the technology is needed on a massive scale and can go on to make customised products for them; without applications in the real world, any cutting-edge new technology is little more than a toy for scientists and researchers.