This week, Joan Puaté, Cluster Manager of the Digital Cluster of Catalonia, along with twenty other Catalan clusters, traveled to China to participate in the tenth edition of the Strategic Cluster Week. It is a mission that takes place annually organized by ACCIÓ, the agency for the competitiveness of the company of the Department of Business and Labor of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

With stops in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai, this trip has aimed to get to know the Chinese innovation ecosystem up close, establish strategic alliances and explore opportunities for international collaboration. Participants have visited leading technology companies, such as OPPO and Tencent, as well as other leading entities such as Shenzhen InnoX technology incubator and e-commerce company Baozun. In addition, meetings have been organized with Catalan multinationals such as Ficosa, a leader in automotive components, which has been present in China since the 90s.

Apart from the corporate visits, the Catalan delegation has attended specialized training sessions on the economy and the Chinese consumption model. Experts such as Alicia García Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis, and Professor Coral Puig, from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, have shared their experience on the Chinese market and its particularities. A special emphasis has also been placed on Chinese cluster policy, with a session by Professor Teng Tangwei, from East China Normal University.

The Strategic Cluster Week is a consolidated initiative that allows Catalan clusters to explore new markets and innovation ecosystems from around the world. In previous editions, this initiative has brought the clusters to destinations such as Boston, Silicon Valley, Singapore or Japan. In this context, the Digital Cluster reaffirms its commitment to internationalization and the creation of synergies that boost the competitiveness of its members.