MTR Lab Establishes Ecological Partnership with Zhongguancun Science City Company
MTR Lab Company Limited (abbreviated as "MTR Lab", a wholly-owned subsidiary of MTR Corporation) and Beijing Zhongguancun Science City Innovation and Development Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as "Zhongguancun Science City Company") announced the establishment of an ecosystem partnership. Both parties will focus on the fields of smart cities and sustainable development, promoting investment in technology enterprises in frontier technology application areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, smart mobility, rail transit technology, retail technology, real estate technology, and construction technology, and assisting them in expanding overseas business. This cooperation reflects the cross-regional innovation collaboration between Hong Kong and Beijing, leveraging their respective advantages to promote the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, actively aligning with the national strategic direction of developing "new quality productive forces".
MTR Lab and Zhongguancun Science City Company establish an ecosystem partnership to jointly promote the development of innovation technology in both Beijing and Hong Kong.
In recent years, the accelerated development of global artificial intelligence and related technologies has become a major driving force for smart cities and sustainable development. China's domestic science and innovation ecosystem is particularly vibrant. According to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, as of September 2025, there were over 5,300 domestic AI enterprises, accounting for about 15% of the global total. Among them, Beijing's Haidian District, as a national-level AI innovation hub, accounts for over 35% of the national share of enterprises and has gathered a large number of specialized, sophisticated, distinctive, and innovative enterprises and unicorns. The above trends are highly aligned with MTR Lab's investment direction in smart city and sustainable development technologies. Among the global investment projects and opportunities received by MTR Lab last year, proposals related to AI and robotics increased nearly 2-fold compared to 2024, with proposals from mainland China accounting for over 30%.
As one of the key points of this cooperation, Zhongguancun Science City Company will continue to deepen the integration of innovation source resources, invite the industry leader MTR Lab to join the innovation ecosystem, and continuously recommend science and innovation enterprises with high investment potential to MTR Lab, covering areas such as AI, smart cities, and sustainable development. Through MTR Lab's extensive science and innovation network, it will promote pilot application opportunities, technology implementation, and cross-border expansion, helping enterprises explore a broader international market.
Deepening Communication with Science and Innovation Ecosystem Partners to Help Tech Companies "Go Global"
As an international investor in innovation technology, MTR Lab is playing an important role by creating strategic value through investment and ecosystem interaction. This cooperation with Zhongguancun Science City Company is another important ecosystem partnership established by MTR Lab in mainland China following the cooperation with TusStar, further deepening communication and cooperation with science and innovation ecosystem partners. As the core area of Beijing's International Science and Technology Innovation Center, as of January 2026, Haidian District has gathered over 2,950 specialized, sophisticated, distinctive, and innovative SMEs and 49 unicorn enterprises, committed to high-quality technological innovation and industrial development. Through this cooperation, Zhongguancun Science City Company will recommend high-quality science and innovation enterprises to MTR Lab, while leveraging MTR Lab's experience in overseas startup markets and the resource advantages of its collaboration platform to promote cross-border business cooperation, explore joint investment opportunities, and connect more science and innovation enterprises with global capital and overseas market resources.
Shi Jing, Investment Director of MTR Lab, stated: "As an international science and innovation strategic investor and collaboration platform, MTR Lab has been actively collaborating with global partners to promote innovation and development. Our investment portfolio covers startups in Hong Kong, mainland China, and developed markets. We have successfully helped several mainland-based innovative enterprises expand overseas markets through strategic investments, including leading AI-driven acoustic monitoring company D-Sonic Technology and AI-empowered retail technology company Whale. Zhongguancun Science City Company connects R&D institutions, incubators, and innovative enterprises, which will help us connect more high-tech, high-potential science and innovation enterprises and further expand our science and innovation investment ecosystem network in mainland China. We hope to combine the strengths of both parties to not only empower mainland science and innovation enterprises to establish a presence in Hong Kong and connect with the international market, but also help promote science and technology innovation cooperation and exchange between Beijing and Hong Kong."
Huang Jingjing, Deputy General Manager of the Ecosystem Business Department of Zhongguancun Science City Company, stated: "Haidian District is the core area of Beijing's International Science and Technology Innovation Center, committed to promoting the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial development, actively fostering the innovative development of technology enterprises and establishing an international cooperation ecosystem to help enterprises go global and explore new markets. Artificial intelligence is an important way to promote sustainable development. As of the end of December 2025, Haidian District had over 1,900 AI enterprises, including 26 unicorns, accounting for 70% of Beijing's total. Under the guidance of the '15th Five-Year Plan', Zhongguancun Science City Company will focus on promoting the widespread application of AI in traditional industries, deepening the construction of the innovation ecosystem, and helping Haidian District achieve high-quality development. We look forward to leveraging MTR Lab's global network and rich international market experience to connect technology enterprises with more overseas opportunities and pilot application scenarios, which will help promote the development of the industry ecosystem and assist science and innovation enterprises in their globalization efforts and achieving business growth goals."
This cooperation between MTR Lab and Zhongguancun Science City Company will focus on exploring investment and cooperation opportunities in smart city and sustainable development solutions, discovering and supporting more promising mainland science and innovation enterprises, attracting global capital to support high-quality technology brands, accelerating the pace of enterprises "going global", and moving towards a broader international market. At the same time, MTR Lab will officially join Zhongguancun Science City Company's Z Hub scenario acceleration platform, which will also allow it to further deepen its presence in the domestic market, join forces with science and innovation power to go global, jointly build carbon-neutral smart communities, and create a smarter, greener future.
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