Difficulty in financing? A sluggish market? The Digital Trade Venture Capital Day activates a super resource network and opens up new channels for innovative growth.

Technological revolution and globalization are the two major driving forces behind the development of international trade.

In recent years, in the face of external uncertainties and disruptions to traditional trade channels, a new form of globalization with a higher level and better quality is being established. Instead of relying on physical expansion, it uses digital infrastructure to directly penetrate national borders, giving rise to a new type of business model that is born globally and thrives in the cloud.

This is vividly referred to as the "born - global" stage of Globalization 4.0. Meanwhile, international trade has a new core - digital trade.

Whether it's the emergence of the "Six Little Dragons" in Hangzhou, Deepseek's breakthrough in the large - model field, or the classical 3D Chinese aesthetics of Black Myth: Wukong astonishing global players; or Tiktok attracting 1.5 billion hours of user attention daily and directly delivering Yiwu products and Cao County Hanfu from Chinese "hometowns" to European and American families through live - streaming e - commerce, all these are examples of digital trade in the Globalization 4.0 era.

In 2022, the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government and the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China held the first Global Digital Trade Expo (hereinafter referred to as the "Digital Trade Expo") in Hangzhou. This is the only national - level, international, and professional exhibition in China with the theme of digital trade.

In a blink of an eye, the fourth Digital Trade Expo is coming in September. As a prelude to the expo, the fourth Beijing Promotion Conference of the Global Digital Trade Expo and the Launch Ceremony of the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day" (hereinafter referred to as the "Beijing Promotion Conference") will be held at the end of May.

It is understood that experts from various fields such as venture capital, technology innovation, and industrial investment will gather at the event to share their insights. In addition, the recruitment for the "Digital Trade Photosynthesis Camp" will be innovatively launched to connect outstanding global projects with capital, truly realizing win - win cooperation.

New Expectations for the Digital Trade Expo

How to evaluate the Digital Trade Expo? Perhaps many people's first impression is that it is relatively "young" but "weighty".

Digital trade is a concept that has only recently come into the public eye, which means the Digital Trade Expo couldn't have been established very early. However, this doesn't affect its scale, influence, or value.

In 2022, the first Global Digital Trade Expo was held in Hangzhou. At that time, it was the only global, professional expo with the theme of digital trade approved by the Party Central Committee and the State Council. It was an important measure to implement the decision of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China to "develop digital trade and accelerate the building of a strong trading nation".

To this day, the significance of this statement is still increasing.

From the following data, we can see the growth. In 2022, the exhibition area of the first expo was 210,000 square feet, attracting more than 50 countries' politicians, scholars, and business representatives. More than 800 leading domestic and foreign enterprises participated, with an intended trade volume of 37.4 billion yuan. In 2024, the exhibition area of the third expo expanded to 1.61 million square feet. 123 countries, regions, and international organizations participated, and more than 1,500 enterprises participated offline, reaching an investment signing amount of 165 billion yuan.

Within two years and three expos, all the figures have at least doubled, which has further fueled the expectations for the fourth expo.

According to the released information, in terms of exhibition, this expo will feature a "1 + 5 + N" exhibition structure to comprehensively showcase the new hotspots, scenarios, and ecosystems of digital trade. In terms of brand activities, a series of theme activities focusing on digital trade rule - making, policy release, industrial docking, and investment negotiation will be launched.

Among them, the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day" is a brand - new activity for this expo.

It is very common for technology startups to fail. A report from CB Insights shows that 70% of emerging technology companies fail, usually within 20 months after their first round of financing. A study by Startup Genome found that 92% of startups fail within three years.

How can high - quality projects avoid failing midway? How can capital find high - quality targets?

The two main purposes of establishing the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day" are: first, to build an international exchange platform to activate high - quality projects and promote cross - border cooperation; second, to leverage the role of investment funds as a bridge, combining domestic and foreign guiding funds and investment institutions to discover potential technology innovation projects and promote industry exchanges and roadshows.

In the past, the expo also had investment and financing docking meetings, but they mainly focused on single industries. This time, the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day" will cover all digital - trade - related industries to discover as many high - quality projects as possible.

At the same time, the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day" also features many innovative measures. For example, it will launch the "Digital Trade Photosynthesis Camp", recruiting high - quality projects and capital three months before the expo to comprehensively and continuously support enterprises. It will also hold reverse roadshows, where investment institutions will share global technology innovation trends. In addition, a capital negotiation area will be established, divided by industry, to enable in - depth communication between project parties and investors...

How Can Digital Trade Startups "Photosynthesize" and Grow?

Nowadays, there are many investment and financing docking meetings. Governments, industrial parks, and capital are all actively involved. In cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, there are often several large - scale docking meetings in a single month.

What makes the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day" special?

First, it focuses on cutting - edge industries and expands the digital trade ecosystem.

Since the first expo, the Digital Trade Expo has continuously broadened its scope of focus, covering multiple major sectors such as artificial intelligence, digital finance, e - commerce, digital entertainment, digital intelligence in transportation, digital intelligence in healthcare, and smart logistics, and continues to further divide and expand. Take the Beijing Promotion Conference as an example. It precisely focuses on artificial intelligence, low - altitude economy, future networks, optoelectronic semiconductors, biomedicine, and other industries that use data as a key production factor and have advanced technologies. With forward - looking planning, it leads the trend of digital trade innovation.

Second, it has top - notch advisors to ensure the stable development of innovative enterprises.

The "Digital Trade Photosynthesis Camp", as an important part of the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day", has a powerful advisor team, including financial institutions, industrial investment funds, venture capital institutions, industrial platforms, and think - tanks. Among them, as a leading financial institution in China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is deeply involved, injecting resources as the exclusive sponsor. It provides professional services to participating enterprises, including cross - border finance, capital management, and risk control.

It should be noted that many innovative enterprises in the digital trade field are still in the technology verification and scenario expansion stage. This strong advisor team can help entrepreneurs identify and avoid potential risks in advance, provide support in terms of capital, resources, and scenario implementation, and ensure the healthy development of enterprises.

Third, it deepens government - enterprise cooperation to create a favorable environment for enterprise growth.

In Hangzhou, there is a well - known saying that vividly describes the relationship between the government and enterprises: "I am responsible for providing a favorable environment, and you are responsible for growing". The "Digital Trade Photosynthesis Camp" is a vivid interpretation and in - depth implementation of this concept. Government departments and investment institutions act as careful gardeners, using policy support and resource integration as nutrients to nurture innovative projects. They ensure that innovative projects incubated at the expo can grow and thrive in a good business environment.

It can be seen that the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day" is not only an efficient platform for high - quality projects to connect with capital but also an incubator for digital economy innovation and a catalyst for industrial upgrading.

Both Capital and Projects Are Indispensable

In the next three months, the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day" will publicly recruit project teams globally. According to the plan, from the end of May to August, 2 - 3 regional recruitment salons will be held in Beijing, Shenzhen, and other places, extending an invitation to outstanding projects at home and abroad. Selected projects can have preliminary matches with investment institutions at the salons to lock in potential cooperation. After screening, advanced projects will enter the "Digital Trade Photosynthesis Camp", receiving in - depth guidance from advisors and industry resources. They will also participate in the grand event of the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day" in September.

The Beijing Promotion Conference is the start of this recruitment.

Many industry leaders, such as Zhang Ying, the founding managing partner of Matrix Partners China, Tan Min of Ubtech Robotics, Feng Dagang, the CEO of 36Kr, the person in charge of the Zhejiang Industrial Fund Management Company, and the person in charge of the Anji Economic Development Zone in Zhejiang, will gather at the event to share industry insights. The "Digital Trade Photosynthesis Camp" will officially announce its powerful advisor team. The on - site investment and financing matching activities will solve the problems of "enterprises unable to find capital" and "capital unable to find targets".

If you are an investor interested in artificial intelligence, biomedicine, low - altitude economy, future networks, optoelectronic semiconductors, and other fields and hope to find high - quality projects;

If you are an entrepreneur seeking capital injection, resource connection, and scenario implementation to stand out in the fierce competition and achieve long - term development;

Welcome to sign up for the event!

For the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day", both capital and projects are indispensable.

Advancing Digital Trade to Create a New Venture Capital Landscape

The China Digital Trade Development Report 2024 released by the Ministry of Commerce shows that in 2023, China's digital trade developed rapidly. The scale of digitally deliverable services reached 2.72 trillion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 8.5%. The cross - border e - commerce import and export volume reached 2.37 trillion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 15.3%, both reaching historical highs in terms of scale and growth rate.

Currently, digital trade has gone beyond a simple economic form and has become the core of China's strategy to gain the initiative in global competition.

As an important platform for implementing China's digital trade strategy, the Digital Trade Expo has launched a three - month super IP, the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day". Through the "Digital Trade Photosynthesis Camp", it deeply participates in the growth cycle of enterprises, from financing to industry resource connection, from technology scenario verification to cross - border market expansion, creating a comprehensive cultivation system. This approach, which extends services to the early stage of enterprises, addresses the high mortality rate of innovative enterprises.

From the macro - perspective of the trillion - level market to the micro - innovation of the "Digital Trade Venture Capital Day", China's digital trade is advancing. When the top - level design meets the grassroots innovation, this industrial transformation, which starts with data and ends with an ecosystem, is writing a Chinese solution for global trade rules.

Each startup supported by the "Digital Trade Photosynthesis Camp" may become a game - changer in the industry. Each breakthrough in rule - making will strengthen China's global voice in digital trade.

This is a journey with no end.