He and the local district government used a combination of cash subsidies and offers of space elsewhere to move out almost all the traditional businesses on the street. In 2013, construction crews took jackhammers and paving equipment to the now-empty street, and after a year of laying bricks and building sleek new exteriors, on June 11, 2014, the Avenue of the Entrepreneurs opened to its new tenants. Guo had used the tools at his disposal—cash, cement, and manual labor—to give a strong nudge toward indigenous innovation in the local startup. It was a landmark moment for Zhongguancun, but one
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