Tsinghua Holdings has selected 16 business incubators to be its first constellation of Star-Clustering Spaces, as the company’s ambitious Star-Clustering Plan to unearth a new generation of world-beating Chinese startups enters a new phase.

The Star-Clustering Plan, launched in June 2016, aims to foster more than 500 startups valued at more than 100 million yuan ($14.55 million) each and to establish a network of 1,000 incubators and maker spaces in 100 Chinese cities by 2021, as well as 50 overseas incubators in countries including US, UK and Germany.

The company believes that creating clusters of world-class resources and talent will create an ideal ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship, allowing large numbers of mold-breaking companies to emerge in rapid succession.

The first batch of Star-Clustering Spaces, 15 from China and one from Silicon Valley in the US, were selected from qualified incubators and maker spaces under subsidiariesof Tsinghua Holdings .

Tsinghua Holdings set strict requirements for the selection of the Star-Clustering Spaces, which were announced in September 2016. The requirements for an incubator to become a Star-Clustering Space include having more than 30 startups in certain technology fields and having a graduation rate of over 15 percent each year. Star-Clustering Spaces also need to have qualified and professional service capacities.

The first Star-Clustering Spaces were selected after several rounds of assessment over the following three months. They are: TIPark in Silicon Valley and in Tianjin; TIBingo in Beijing; Creative Young Communities in Beijing, Suzhou, and Chongqing; Maker Space in Taiyuan; Maker Community in Qingdao; Tsinghua Tongfang Incubator; and TusStar incubators in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Weifang, Heze, Ningbo and Jiangmen.