Chengdu, a city in Sichuan Province, has long been a magnet for young dreamers. The team behind the新一代 "artificial sun" — China's HL-3 tokamak — has an average age of just 35. The youth team at the National Supercomputing Center in Chengdu averages 32 years old, with 71% of its members under 35, providing computing power services to over 50 national research teams. Even the "Ultra Carbon One" team at the Nuclear Power Institute of China averages under 34 years old.

Behind these impressive statistics lie countless young faces. Innovation and entrepreneurship are rarely smooth journeys — questions linger about funding sources, project discovery, and who bears the cost of trial and error. So why do young people still cross mountains and rivers to converge on Chengdu? The local government's answer is clear: "A city friendlier to youth, where youth can achieve more."

In recent years, Chengdu has deepened its talent system reforms, using both substantial financial investment and genuine commitment to pave the way for young people and energize the city's future. Policy-Driven Recruitment: Building Bridges for Young Talent

"In the early days of starting a business, the fear isn't difficulty itself — it's the lack of breathing room," admits 95-born entrepreneur He Meishan. She brought her guofeng digital entertainment expo project to Chengdu, settling into the Wuhou District Youth Entrepreneurship Park to explore new formats like virtual reality ancient-style immersive experiences. It sounds promising, but reality brought challenges: delayed payments, exhibition disputes, rising labor costs, and the added burden of renting in a new city put immense pressure on her team.

"Thanks to the Youth Talent Station's 'three exemptions and three halvings' policy, our rent and utilities were completely waived for the first three months!" He exclaimed. The station, located conveniently near the entrepreneurship park, offered "luggage-in" accommodation that dramatically reduced operating costs. Beyond that, the park provided legal counsel, financial support, and investment matchmaking services to address startup challenges.

Many youth-led ventures fail not due to lack of potential, but because they stumble in the "from zero to one" phase — short on capital, space, policy knowledge, or resources. Chengdu sees this clearly and acts decisively. In October 2025, the city introduced the "Ten Measures to Attract and Gather Talent," outlining 59 specific actions across 10 areas. These include building a full-lifecycle funding support system for innovation spanning "seed, startup, and growth" stages, creating a 100-billion-yuan "Angel + Venture Capital" fund cluster, offering up to 10 million yuan in unsecured credit loans for tech enterprises founded by A-to-F class talent, providing "first startup capital" for college students innovating in Chengdu, and customizing growth profiles for entrepreneurial talent with "companion-style support" like mentoring, resource matching, and policy application assistance.

The warmth of these policies also lies in breaking down bureaucratic barriers. In Chengdu, "who counts as talent is decided by the employer." Tang Anhua, a senior technical expert at Siemens Industrial Automation Products, was directly elevated to C-class high-level talent in the Chengdu High-tech Zone through company self-certification. Fan Wei, a post-80s technical backbone at Fanhua Aviation, would typically have qualified only for D-class based on seniority, but was exceptionally recognized as B-class due to his outstanding performance. Every year, Chengdu allocates no fewer than 600 slots for relevant units and districts to independently certify A-to-C class talent based on "salary, position, performance, competition, or investment." Additionally, 40% of the city-level talent plan quotas are reserved for key employers to conduct autonomous talent reviews, further empowering the employing entities. Scenario-Driven Growth: Letting Dreams Take Root

Six years ago, 90-born Tsinghua PhD Zhang Xingzhi moved his household registration to Chengdu and founded Chengdu Wabo Technology, focusing on non-invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. "The technology is cutting-edge, but the hardest part isn't the algorithms — it's convincing people it can actually work in practice." He pitched at numerous events, meeting more rejections than handshakes.

The turning point came at the "Rongpiao Cup" High-Level Talent Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. With his project on "High-Robustness Consumer-Grade BCI Terminals and Neural Large Models Based on Domestic Ascend Computing Power," he advanced through thousands of entries. After the competition, the Chengdu High-tech Zone's seed fund quickly followed — marking his "first truly institutional investment." Zhang reflected, "The competition not only gave me a platform to showcase my work but also the confidence to stay in Chengdu." This year alone, the Rongpiao Cup has hosted 53 series events with 4,286 projects and 5,416 participating innovators, roughly 90% of whom are young. The competition has become a crucial gateway for Chengdu to connect with global innovation resources and discover "seed players."

Once the "being seen" problem is solved, what truly helps talent "grow" is Chengdu's large-scale, systematic opening of application scenarios. In June 2025, the first batch of "list your challenges and solve them" (揭榜挂帅) robot policing scenarios was released. The Chengdu Public Security Bureau, together with the Municipal Economy and Information Technology Bureau and the New Economy Commission, unveiled four needs: wheeled public security intelligent patrol robots, police quadruped intelligent patrol robot dogs, traffic patrol robots, and service robots for document halls.

"Wheeled patrol robots are one area we're confident about bidding for, and we're also closely watching government service robots," said Chen Yang, deputy general manager of Chengdu Humanoid Robot Innovation Center Co., Ltd. He believes the "consortium" bidding model effectively integrates resources along the industry chain, leveraging each company's strengths to create powerful industrial synergy.

For tech companies, opening scenarios is worth far more than just "finding customers." Huang Shan, chairman of Chengdu Yuefan Innovation, started from the UESTC robot championship team and has specialized in last-mile delivery for nearly a decade. Early this year, ten "Xiangdi Ultra" delivery robots entered the Shufu Youchao International Community, completing 30,000 deliveries in four months. She estimates her robots now operate in over 50 cities globally, covering more than 1,000 buildings. "Since last year, Chengdu has helped us connect with numerous scenarios, accelerating technical validation and product iteration — this kind of support is more precious than direct funding."

Competitions are the starting point; scenarios are the stage. In 2025, Chengdu established the "Scenario Innovation Promotion Center," committing to release over 1,000 technology application scenarios annually in fields like AI and low-altitude economy. In May 2026, the city issued the "Measures for Accelerating the Cultivation and Opening of Scenario Resources." By July, Chengdu Scenario Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. was officially established, signifying the "two hands" of scenario innovation — government coordination and market operation — working in tandem. The shift from "giving policies" to "giving opportunities," from "providing funds" to "providing scenarios," marks a profound transformation in Chengdu's talent philosophy. As one entrepreneur put it: "Technologies and products validated in real scenarios can go national, even global." Nurturing the Ecosystem: Helping Talent Settle and Thrive

On May 30th, the "Talent Gathering in Tianfu, Building Dreams in Chengdu" — the "Rongpiao Talent Meet" city recruitment series — was held in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Combining online and offline formats and linking main and branch venues, the event released Chengdu's urban hospitality list, including talent demand lists, innovation and entrepreneurship scenario opportunity lists, and "Golden Panda" intern positions from the High-tech Zone. This creates a full-chain talent service ecosystem from internship to employment, from entrepreneurship to settlement.

The job fair saw over 100 employers on-site, offering more than 2,000 quality positions across AI, healthcare, aerospace, and other sectors. Industrial ecology forms the foundation for talent to put down roots. To build a modern industrial system, Chengdu continues to run "Rongpiao Talent Meet" and similar initiatives, organizing over 2,400 employers to recruit at key universities nationwide. They've released more than 11,000 jobs and attracted 197,000 young professionals. From Beijing to Shanghai, from Wuhan to Nanjing, the city persistently releases job demand across key industry chains, ensuring synchronized delivery of technological achievements, investment projects, entrepreneurial carriers, and talent services.

The service ecosystem, meanwhile, feels like a long-distance "accompanying run." On Tianfu New Area's Chengdu Science and Technology Innovation Eco-Island, full-lifecycle services are woven into daily life for its "islanders." "If entrepreneurship is a marathon, our role is like a 'companion runner,' helping these startups grow step by step and matching them with more resources," said Zhang Pengfei, general manager of Chengdu Tianfu Investment Group's Eco-Island Operations Company. In Building W7, dedicated to AI and robotics industries, over half the tenants are startups — Zhang and his investment managers even help them move. Since Xinteng Shuzhi Network Technology settled on the island, staff have provided continuous support, precisely connecting them with institutions like the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences' Urban Agriculture Research Institute and the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, while also hand-holding them through application materials and defense preparation, helping them successfully bid for projects.

Behind this "accompanying run" is a complete ecosystem. In October 2024, the Eco-Island launched the "Dao+ Science and Technology Innovation Ecosystem," offering gradient support across a company's entire lifecycle through seed programs, incubation plans, and ecosystem partnership initiatives. Currently, about 70,000 square meters of the island's operational space has an occupancy rate of roughly 80%, with the network expanded to 13 cities across the province, facilitating the landing of 35 projects.

What sets Chengdu apart is its humanistic ecology — embedding "fast innovation" within the city's "slow living" culture. At Tianfu Park, there's a talent service center. Outside, flowers bloom and greenways meander; inside, screens display talent information while entrepreneurs gather at service desks to ask about policies. Wu Shuna, director of the Chengdu Talent Comprehensive Service Center's South Branch, smiles: "We want talent to drop by while taking a stroll, handle business, and ask questions conveniently." Through "dedicated counters and specialists," applicants can complete policy consultations in one stop, and in smart interview rooms, job seekers can experience AI mock interviews. This deep integration of ecological and office spaces turns the park into not just a scenic spot, but a city living room.

Today, Chengdu's urban greenway network exceeds 10,000 kilometers, stretching right to residents' doorsteps. The city's total talent pool has reached 6.85 million, with more young people than ever choosing Chengdu to innovate, start businesses, and chase their dreams. It's like the saying goes — "You focus on running; I'll pave the road." And that road is only getting wider and brighter.