The European Institute of Innovation and Technology  (EIT) launched its Global Outreach programme in January 2018, with the goal to establish joint EIT Community Hubs in Silicon Valley, Israel and China. The EIT Hub China aims to establish a two-way bridge between the pan-European EIT Innovation Community ecosystem and the Chinese innovation ecosystem, supporting and facilitating the exchange of talents, technology and investments for the benefit of Europe. The EIT Hub China will be tightly integrated into the EIT Community’s activities in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Education and will actively promote the EU-China collaboration in full respect of the European policies vis-à-vis China. Furthermore, it will be connected to European Union Member States and associated countries within the European Framework Programme trade and scientific missions. EIT Hub China focuses on the global challenges of Healthy Sustainable Cities, Circular Economy, Sustainable Agrifood Value Chains to support European innovators to understand and reach Chinese ecosystem and to attract Chinese talent to Europe. 

The project acted at the intersection of digitalization and entrepreneurship. Its objective was to implement the preparatory phase of the Landing Platform programme for the EIT Hub China. The objective was divided into four main outputs: 

• Market Study: This output comprised an empirical study on the Chinese climate innovation market to identify opportunities for the EIT Hub China. In addition to a broad analysis of the market, we focused on a feasibility study for the Landing Platform including i) a mapping of the current supply of actors and activities in the Chinese market similar to the Landing Platform and ii) a gap analysis to identify the demands of European green start-ups for a Landing Platform. The final deliverable for this output was a Market Study due mid-way through the project.
• Workshop with European stakeholders: This output included a participatory workshop with key stakeholder group representatives to validate the Market Study findings.
• Workshop with Chinese stakeholders: This output included a participatory workshop with Chinese industry experts and potential partners to validate the Market Study findings.
• Landing Platform Development Plan: This output used the analysis of the market and feasibility study to provide detailed recommendations to the EIT Steering Committee to develop the Landing Platform programme in China, including data-driven suggestions for target group, geographic scope, thematic scope, services to offer, business model, potential partners, outreach plan and concrete next steps. The final deliverable for this output was a Landing Platform Development Report due at the end of the project.

We employed a balanced approach of desktop research to analyse general trends and participatory activities to understand the market and validate results. In particular, we conducted 1:1 interviews with climate innovation stakeholders. Furthermore, we integrated suggestions for digital alternatives in the Landing Platform strategy to reflect possible future coronavirus scenarios. The project integrated co-creation and validation with the EIT stakeholders at each step. At the end of the project, we gave a presentation on our final findings and recommendations for the EIT and other interested stakeholders. 

Conducted desktop research on internal and external literature for Market Study 

• Conducted 1:1 interviews with industry experts and key stakeholders to identify opportunities and needs
• Mapped 86 market access organisations supporting EU start-ups in China
• Coordinated and designed two participatory workshops online for European and Chinese stakeholders, to validate research results
• Conducted SWOT analysis and gap analysis for EIT Hub China
• Conducted industry analysis on the topics of “Healthy sustainable cities”, “Sustainable agri-food”, and “Circular economy”
• Provided final recommendations for the Landing Platform of EIT Hub China, including:

○ Geographical scope 

○ Thematic scope 

○ Target audience 

○ Proposed offered service(s) 

○ List of organisations to be involved (European and Chinese) 

○ Business model