Many believe the world has drifted towards greater levels of unilateralism and protectionism. In response, China is emphasizing a need for technological self-reliance. In Shanghai's Pudong New Area, the local government provides more support to chip companies to help them develop their products.

InventChip Technology, a local high-tech startup, develops silicon carbide devices using special material to save energy. The innovation aimed at high-tech industries, from a 5G base station to electric vehicles.

"The driving distance could be 10 percent longer, or in other words, we can use five to 10 percent smaller batteries," said Zhang Yongxi, founder of InventChip Technology.

Compared with the U.S. and European countries with plenty of mature chip sectors, the industry in China is in its infancy, said Zhang, so challenges and opportunities lie ahead. Zhang decided to set up his office in Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area to ensure that his startup is connected with a world-class industrial environment.

Lin-gang gathers China's top integrated circuit companies. It's part of Shanghai's ambitious plan to build a world chip hub in the east by speeding up infrastructure development.

"China's integrated circuit industry has a high reliance on devices and materials from abroad. In order to compete with international tech-giants, we need to expand the variety of our products," said Lu Yu, Deputy Director of Lin-gang Special Area Administration's Division of High-Tech Industry and Innovation.

Lu said Lin-gang is supporting its companies based in the area with gaining more technologies.

Inventchip is benefiting from Lin-gang's preferential policies, Zhang said. The subsidies they received, as much as 10 percent for some projects, allowed them to conduct innovative projects bravely.
"We hope in future, this area will really become a very competitive, Silicon Valley-like high-tech area," Zhang said.

With more companies joining the bloc, supply chains will improve, said Zhang, and small and giant enterprises can both play their part in the system.

(Huang Yi and Chang Yuanyang also contributed to the story.)