Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area launched its One Person Company (OPC) initiative in August 2025, unveiling the Zero Cube community — a space offering complimentary office and residential accommodations. Within the space of just five months, the community has already attracted more than 150 startup teams.

The Zero Cube community in Lin-gang Special Area. [Photo/Wenhui Daily]

Four months after Chen Zishun's cross-border livestreaming venture joined the community, the team successfully turned a blanket product into a bestseller in the Japanese market. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the team achieved sales of more than five million yuan ($717,852).

In addition to three years of rent-free office space and rent-free housing in the first year, Lin-gang's OPC initiative is piloting mechanisms to facilitate cross-border data flows. The Zero Cube community offers compliant and dedicated data channels, and assists teams with cross-border data needs in completing regulatory filings and compliance archiving.

Zero Cube hosts eight types of emerging business models, ranging from data processing to code outsourcing. The community's 20-plus independent offices — each around 10 square meters — have now been fully leased.

Wang Xiyu, founder of MemoTalk, ran into a technical bottleneck while customizing the software development kit during the early stages of his AI company's hardware business. A chance meeting with a development team from upstairs quickly helped resolve the issue.

This month, the company's first batch of 1,000 units is set to launch. By bringing teams together, Zero Cube streamlines collaboration along the entrepreneurial journey.

Lin-gang is actively encouraging leading enterprises to open up commercial application scenarios, helping OPCs tackle fragmented technical challenges, and providing sustained momentum for entrepreneurship and innovation.