"Dual-High Collaboration," a pioneering initiative in Jiangsu, represents a novel development model designed to deeply integrate scientific innovation with industrial innovation. Since its launch in July last year, regions across the province have rapidly embarked on reform and exploration, injecting powerful new momentum into cultivating new quality productive forces. Recently, Wuxi's first full-chain sci-tech achievement transformation project under this model was successfully implemented—the human milk oligosaccharides project by Hetang Bioengineering (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. signed a pilot-scale agreement with the Wuxi Institute for Special Food and Nutrition Health and an incubation agreement with the Wuxi National Hi-Tech District Life Science Park. This signifies that from its very inception, this startup project can receive "dual support" from both the university and the high-tech zone. Zhang Hongtao, General Manager of Hetang Bioengineering (Wuxi) Co., Ltd. and an Associate Professor at Jiangnan University, stated, "Under the 'Dual-High Collaboration,' the outcomes we university faculty develop progress from laboratory experiments to concept validation in the university's science park, and then to technological finalization for industrialization on the high-tech zone's pilot-scale platform. This completely moves away from the previously fragmented, individualistic approach to research, creating a fully organized and systematic form of research and transformation."

Jiangsu possesses 61 provincial-level or higher high-tech zones and 175 universities; the challenge lies in transforming this resource advantage into a developmental advantage. Jiangsu has clearly defined an implementation path centered on "organized research + organized transformation" to promote the collaborative and innovative development of high-tech zones and universities. Wuxi National Hi-Tech District and Jiangnan University were among the first pilot units. Since the pilot began, the two sides have established a joint conference system and set up dedicated task forces, upgrading the previously spontaneous, point-to-point cooperation between research teams and enterprises into organized, broad-based collaboration. To date, the two parties have signed 38 sci-tech service cooperation contracts, with a total contract value nearing 10 million yuan. Huang Min, Director of the External Cooperation and City-University Co-construction Office at Jiangnan University, remarked, "In the past, we often completed research projects first and then sought applications. Now, the high-tech zone identifies industrial needs, enterprises present their challenges, and the university organizes teams to tackle them. From the outset, we identify who will use the research and where it will be applied, leading to a higher success rate. This genuinely upgrades the previous sporadic, point-based cooperation into a systematic project that deploys innovation chains around the industrial chain and arranges industrial chains around the innovation chain."

Since last year, the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, the Provincial Party Committee Talent Office, and the Provincial Department of Education have successively issued "policy guideline lists" and "reform guidance lists" for the "Dual-High Collaboration," promoting the implementation of 24 support policies and 15 reform items. Pilot regions are also actively exploring innovative systems in key areas such as platform co-construction, mechanism innovation, and achievement transformation: After pairing up, Nanjing Gulou High-Tech Zone and universities like Nanjing University conducted "floor-by-floor surveys to identify needs" among enterprises within the zone, facilitating connections between companies and academia; Suzhou National Hi-Tech District formed 36 innovation consortia with its three partner universities, backed by a 100-million-yuan achievement transformation fund; Yancheng Environmental Protection High-Tech Zone, jointly with four partner universities, built an approximately 10,000-square-meter "Dual-High Collaboration" work base; and Lianyungang High-Tech Zone implemented a mutual exchange of "sci-tech vice presidents" and "industry professors" with universities, further promoting the deep coupling of the talent chain, innovation chain, and industrial chain. Dai Hongwei, Director of the Science and Technology Department at Jiangsu Ocean University, explained, "The mutual dispatch of sci-tech vice presidents and industry professors between the university and the high-tech zone promotes two-way flow of faculty and enterprise experts, allowing them to directly address enterprise technical challenges or common industrial issues. The resulting R&D outcomes can directly serve production line upgrades and product improvement, ensuring that disciplinary development and industrial upgrading resonate on the same frequency, thereby building a mutually empowering innovation ecosystem."

It is understood that the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology and the Provincial Department of Education will next jointly establish a "Dual-High Collaboration" task force, assigning dedicated liaison officers to each pilot high-tech zone and its partner university. This aims to strengthen the tripartite linkage between "departments - high-tech zones - universities," exploring new institutional pathways to打通 (open up) the virtuous cycle between education, science and technology, and talent.