During a summer trip to Europe 15 years ago, I sat with friends in a Monaco hotel as we discussed their bold new idea. One of them, trained in technology and just beginning his entrepreneurial journey, shared his vision: to make the lectures of world-class professors accessible online to college students across China. I admired his passion, though I doubted whether such a venture could succeed.

Not long ago, that company, now a leading provider of digital solutions for higher education in China, went public in Hong Kong with a valuation exceeding HK$10 billion. My friend’s journey is not an isolated tale, but an example of a broader transformation: a growing number of Chinese scientists, engineers and technically trained graduates are emerging as a new breed of entrepreneurs. Their rise signals a fundamental shift in China’s growth model, from decades of property-driven expansion towards an innovation-led future.

Over the last year, during my visits to mainland China, I have met many scientist-entrepreneurs. Their conversations often return to a single theme: how to capture the momentum of a hi-tech surge that began more than a decade ago and has since redefined China’s growth logic and the aspirations of its younger generation.

That surge traces its roots to the 2014 “mass entrepreneurship and innovation” campaign, which encouraged grass-roots start-ups and laid the groundwork for a new wave of enterprise. By 2017, this foundation had matured into a full-fledged hard-tech expansion, giving rise to many of today’s leading listed companies.

From 2018 onwards, rising geopolitical risks compelled China to pursue self-sufficiency in semiconductors and industrial software. National policies elevated technological innovation to a strategic priority, aligning state ambition with entrepreneurial drive and igniting nationwide enthusiasm for hi-tech ventures.

This emerging cohort is strikingly diverse: seasoned researchers with decades in the lab, ambitious postgraduates fresh from university, home-grown talent trained entirely in China, and returnee scholars educated abroad. They form a talent pool unlike the first generation of internet entrepreneurs, who thrived by adapting Western business models and chasing market expansion with less focus on core technology.