Waves Go South: This summer, WAVES arrives in Panyu
The waves are coming. Are you ready?
WAVES is the most important event of 36Kr every summer.
But it's not just an "event".
From the lawn of Jinhaihu Bibo Island in Beijing in 2023, to the market at Langyuan Station in 2024, to the night sky over 5,000 years of Liangzhu civilization in 2025 - WAVES finds a place every year to bring together the most promising entrepreneurs and investors under 36 in the same space. There are no red carpets, no formal dresses, and no one reads from a script. There are round - table discussions and exchanges during the day, and stand - up comedy shows, AI fairs, and the gentle breeze by the Pearl River at night.
This midsummer, WAVES is coming to the Pearl River for the first time - to Liangcang·Xinzhao Creative Park in Panyu District, Guangzhou.
Why Panyu?
It's not because of the large venue. It's because Panyu itself is a hotbed of innovation, entrepreneurship, and investment.
SHEIN grew out of a clothing factory in Panyu and has become the fourth - largest unicorn in the world. XPeng HT is deeply involved in building flying cars in Panyu. GAC Aion started here with a goal of 200 billion yuan in output value in three years. There are more than 5,000 enterprises above designated size, more than 1,100 service enterprises, 3 enterprises with a scale of 100 billion yuan, and 29 listed companies in Panyu. The GDP of the whole district reached 315.066 billion yuan in 2025.
But more importantly - in Panyu's "2104" industrial system, there are three future industries: embodied intelligence, intelligent unmanned systems, and cutting - edge new materials.
This happens to be the most concentrated track for all the round - tables at this year's WAVES.
This is not a coincidence. When 36Kr decided to bring WAVES to the south, Panyu was the place where "the industrial foundation and the content of the conference fit naturally". What WAVES talks about, Panyu is actively attracting investment for.
The waves are moving south.
Panyu: Rich in historical and cultural heritage
This is not just a slogan, but a fact.
Panyu was established as a county in the Qin Dynasty, more than 2,200 years ago. It is an important birthplace of Lingnan culture, the hometown of Guangdong music, a well - known hometown of overseas Chinese, and one of the starting points of the Maritime Silk Road.
Today, Panyu is the geographical center of the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area. More than 3.3 million people live on its 529 square kilometers of land. It has three unique advantages that are hard to replicate:
The first advantage is transportation. Guangzhou South Station, the high - speed railway station with the largest passenger flow in the country, handled more than 175 million passengers in 2025, with a peak daily flow of 920,000. It takes 33 minutes to reach Baiyun Airport and 11 minutes to reach Pazhou from the station. Five inter - city railways and eight subway lines intersect here. Panyu has the longest subway mileage in Guangzhou and is the area that can reach the three international airports in Baiyun, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen the fastest.
What does this mean? It means that if you set up your business in Panyu, your investors, customers, and supply - chain partners from all over the country can reach you within an hour.
The second advantage is industrial density. There are 3 enterprises with a scale of 100 billion yuan (Haida Group, GAC Group, SHEIN), 4 unicorns (Aion, SHEIN, XPeng HT, Tanjiji), more than 50 national specialized and sophisticated "little giants" enterprises, and more than 1,900 national high - tech enterprises. The lighting and audio equipment industry accounts for 48% of the national market share, and the jewelry industry accounts for 70% of the Hong Kong and Macao markets. This is not just an area with industries; it's a place with a very high industrial concentration - the upstream and downstream industries are all nearby, and the distance from the factory to the seaport for export is shorter than elsewhere.
The third advantage is talent. Guangzhou University Town is located in Panyu. There are 12 universities, more than 200,000 teachers and students, and 73 academicians. This is the university town with the largest number of college students in the country and the location of the national future industrial science and technology park. The Dongxizhuang Science and Technology Innovation Agglomeration Area adjacent to the university town is releasing industrial land. More than 100 strategic emerging industry projects have settled in the Shiziyang Intelligent Manufacturing Innovation Park.
Talent, space, and industry - Panyu has all three advantages.
Panyu's investment promotion policies,
Show sincerity with clear figures
Panyu's investment promotion policies have a characteristic: they are straightforward, presenting the figures directly.
The talent policy is the biggest highlight. It's not about "green channels" or "priority handling"; it's sincere:
Innovation and entrepreneurship leading teams: A single project can receive up to 10 million yuan in funding support.
Outstanding industrial talents: Up to 5 million yuan.
Doctoral students settling in: Up to 100,000 yuan.
The talent service cards are divided into three levels: Platinum card (120㎡ with free rent for five years) → Gold card (90㎡ with half - price rent for two years) → Silver card (45㎡ with a 20% discount on rent for two years).
For world - class scientist teams, global top - level strategic scientists, "neck - choking" problem solvers, and top - notch biomedical projects (the municipal government provides up to 5 billion yuan in full - chain support) - the figures on paper are already the ceiling, but there is still room for truly high - profile projects.
In the AI and robotics track, provincial and municipal policies are combined. Panyu's "2104" system lists embodied intelligence as the top of the three future industries. Provincial policies provide up to 50 million yuan for national - level manufacturing innovation centers, up to 8 million yuan for industrial AI benchmark projects, and up to 8 million yuan for open - source communities. For specialized and sophisticated "little giants" enterprises, the provincial government awards 1 million yuan, the municipal government awards 1 million yuan, and the district government provides additional awards, with a maximum of 3 million yuan in total from the three - level combination.
The rent reduction is also real. Projects settled in the National Technology Transfer Center are exempt from rent for the first three years and get a 50% discount in the fourth and fifth years. The technology achievement trading platform provides a 1% subsidy based on the transaction amount, with a maximum of 5 million yuan per year.
In a nutshell: Panyu's policy logic is to attract talents with sincerity, exchange space for project settlement, and enhance the attractiveness of the AI track through the combination of provincial and municipal policies.
Following WAVES to Panyu,
What can you get
This midsummer, WAVES 2026 will be held for two days - from June 16th to 17th, at Liangcang·Xinzhao Creative Park in Panyu, Guangzhou.
If you are an investor or an entrepreneur, the agenda of WAVES covers all the topics you care about:
Round - table on going global - "Those who stand against the wind", where investors and enterprises discuss the real situation of going global.
Round - table on AI + healthcare - From tools to prescriptions, who will pay for AI healthcare?
Round - table on embodied intelligence - FA and enterprises have a dialogue on billion - dollar valuations and real - world implementation.
Round - table on AI Native - Investors discuss the new rules after the collapse of old common sense.
Deep dialogue on the real coordinates of Chinese AI - BlueRun Ventures × post - 2000 entrepreneurs.
Early - stage investment session - "We always praise adventure", focusing on smaller, earlier, and more niche projects.
......
Over the two - day period, dozens of Under36 entrepreneurs and investors will take the stage, and there will be hundreds of 36Kr readers, investment institution partners, enterprise founders, and industry observers in the audience.
If you are interested in Panyu, WAVES has also prepared a set of docking mechanisms:
Docking of Panyu's industrial space - If you are looking for office space or a production base for your team, the Shiziyang Specialized and Sophisticated Enterprise Agglomeration Area, Guangzhou University Town, Wanbo Business District, and Guangzhou South Station Business District all have excellent carrier resources. Panyu's staff will directly discuss specific conditions with you.
Consultation on Panyu's investment promotion policies - There will be dedicated personnel on - site to answer questions about talent subsidies and rent reduction. You don't have to visit government windows three times first.
WAVES Night social event - On the evening of the 16th by the Pearl River, there will be an Under36 award ceremony, youth stand - up comedy shows, an AI fair, Panyu cuisine, and motorcycle test - rides by the river. No one will wear suits, and everyone will be in an open - minded space. When you walk over with a drink in your hand, the next person you talk to might be your next investor, partner, or co - founder.
This is not a "listen - and - leave" event. Panyu provides the space and policies, and WAVES provides the content and people. The rest will happen in the evening breeze by the river.
Registration
If you are an investor, entrepreneur, or corporate decision - maker and want to conduct industrial docking, policy consultation, or space inspection with Panyu during WAVES 2026, please fill in the following information.
The information you provide will only be used for investment promotion docking in Panyu District. By filling it in, you are deemed to have defaulted to accept contact from Panyu's staff.
If you are interested in participating in Panyu's investment promotion docking, click https://jsj.top/f/NA2gwy to fill in the registration form.
This midsummer. By the Pearl River. The waves are coming. Are you ready?
WAVES 2026 · This midsummer · June 16th - 17th
Panyu, Guangzhou · Liangcang·Xinzhao Creative Park
