Yichang City is home to 52 innovative incubators and makerspaces of various types, including 24 innovative incubators, 27 makerspaces, and 1 municipal accelerator. The completed incubator area exceeded 1 million square meters，the Yichang Science and Technology Bureau said on November 19.The construction level and performance of our city’s incubators is second only to Wuhan, ranking second in Hubei Province, according to the bureau.

　　In recent years, the city has spared no effort in developing the mass entrepreneurship and innovation, and made the development of incubators and makerspaces as a priority for local scientific and technological innovation work in a meticulous way. And the municipal government has released a series of policy measures to support the construction of incubators and makerspaces, with Measurements on Strengthening Scientific and Technological Innovation to Lead High-quality Developmentand Management Measures on Technology Business Incubation Carrier in Yichang City. Moreover, the municipal government has improvedthe qualification conditions and registration procedures for incubators, and promoted the dynamic management, policy incentives and appraisement for incubators (makerspaces) based on performance evaluation results. The working system of the mass entrepreneurship and innovation service platforms has improved. In addition, funds in money support, subsidies assistance and performance evaluation to encourage the establishment of technology business incubator platforms has been provided.

　　By implementing the preferential policies comprehensively, making good use of the role of financial funds as a lever and giving the real benefits, the city has attracted a large number of enterprises to participate in mass entrepreneurship and innovation. For example，after “graduating” from the incubator, Weite Technologies Co., Ltd. established the Yichang Sensor IoT Incubator to feed back the development of small and micro technology enterprises. Yichang Biomedicine Incubator Chengdong U Valley was invested and set up by Xinyang Incubation Operation Management Company. It is the first biomedical professional incubator invested and established by private capital in Yichang. Except for the innovation and entrepreneurship service center of Yichang High-tech Zone, Xiling High-tech Incubation Center, Zhijiang Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, Yiling Science and Technology Park, which are government-led mass entrepreneurship and innovation service platforms, all others are set up through introduction of social capital, forming an investment operation system that combines government guidance and social participation. What is more, localities have actively explored in accordance with their own actual conditions and formed their own distinctive operating models. So far, there are more than 1,700 incubating enterprises in the city, creating more than 30,000 jobs, accumulatively more than 700 qualified companies, cultivating 419 national technology-based small and medium-sized businesses, 94 national high-tech enterprises, and 42 companies listed on the New Third Board and the New Fourth Board. Various types of incubators and makerspaces have been established and introduced more than 400 million yuan of seed funds, invested in more than 100 companies, with an investment of more than 50 million yuan. The Incubators and makerspaces have cultivated a group of successful companies and entrepreneurs. (Reporter Ruan Zhongmou; Correspondent Zhang Kai)