If you have an idea to build something new, Zhejiang province may be one of the best places to turn it into reality.

Nikk Mitchell, a 38-year-old Canadian entrepreneur, has lived in China for nearly two decades. After years of exploring opportunities across the country, he ultimately chose Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, as the place to pursue his entrepreneurial dream.

In 2017, Mitchell and his business partner started their company, FXG, with little more than two desks and a vision. Today, the company has grown into a team of dozens of employees focused on the research and development of virtual reality hardware and content.

It is based in Dream Town, an entrepreneurship hub in Hangzhou's Yuhang district. The entrepreneur credits much of his company's growth to the support he received from Dream Town's administrative team.

"We've built a long-term relationship," he said. "At different stages of our development, they understood what we needed, sometimes even before we asked."

As the company expanded, Dream Town provided larger office space. It also helped connect the company with financial institutions and secure a much-needed bank loan.

Since opening in 2015, Dream Town has attracted more than 4,000 entrepreneurial projects and over 28,000 entrepreneurs.

More than 275 projects have secured financing exceeding one million yuan ($147,000) each, with total financing reaching 16.1 billion yuan, according to official data.

The rise of Dream Town reflects an entrepreneurial ecosystem where people from around the world pursue their ambitions with dedicated support from local governments, while technological innovation in the province is increasingly driving industrial transformation and economic growth.

Zhejiang is working to further reinforce the role of enterprises as the primary drivers of innovation, encouraging companies to participate in cutting-edge research and cultivate their own innovation capabilities, Vice-Governor He Zhongwei said. By 2030, the province aims for more than 65 percent of major industrial enterprises to establish their own research and development institutions.

He also emphasized building a closely integrated innovation ecosystem that connects government, industry, universities, research institutions, and end-users.

In this ecosystem, the Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, is one of the institutions that serve as a platform to turn research into on-the-ground, real-world impact.

Zhu Liang, the center's deputy director, shared one of the successful cases, citing a smart warehousing company in Zhejiang that was struggling to sort heavy, odd-shaped cargo.

To solve the problem, the innovation center established a joint laboratory together with the company. Scientists, engineers, and students worked side by side on the factory floor for months.

Together, they developed an intelligent sorting and positioning system capable of locating items with an accuracy of 10 millimeters while improving efficiency by 10 percent.

The technology has since been adopted by leading logistics companies in China and exported to Southeast Asia and Europe.

"In this project, the company's challenge became our research topic," Zhu said.

Looking ahead, Zhejiang plans to further strengthen its innovation ecosystem during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30).

"The goal is to build a world-class innovation ecosystem and create a place where talent from around the world can realize their entrepreneurial dreams," said Zhang Xiaoqin, an official of the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

Contact the writers at huqing@chinadaily.com.cn