SHENZHEN announced the establishment of the Jinpeng Reform and Innovation Award yesterday. The city hopes to encourage innovation to help fuel the local economy as traditional industries fade.

    The 3-million-yuan (US$490,500) award includes a 1-million-yuan prize each for innovative projects carried out by government departments, enterprises and social organizations, said the organizer, the Shenzhen Innovation Development Institute, at a press conference.

    Groups that would like to be considered for the award can submit applications to www. cxsz.org before a June 30 deadline.

    Eligible projects must have been carried out between January 2010 and December 2014 and have been successful economically and socially, according to the press conference.

    A panel will announce the winners at an awards ceremony during the Dameisha China Innovation Forum at the beginning of November.

    The organizer is also seeking designs for the logo and award trophy. The winning designers will receive 50,000 yuan each.

    As a State-level innovative city, Shenzhen has chosen independent innovation as the dominant strategy for its future development. The number of Shenzhen’s Patent Cooperation Treaty applications, the international standard for reserving patents, has topped Chinese cities for 10 consecutive years. Shenzhen ranked fourth on Forbes’ 2013 list of innovative mainland cities.

    More than half of the exports from the city are high-tech products, according to government figures.

    The city is also well-known for design, with more than 6,000 design companies employing more than 60,000 people. On Nov. 19, 2008, UNESCO named Shenzhen a member of its Creative Cities Network and awarded Shenzhen the title “City of Design.”

    (Vivian Li)