Anna Zhao

    anna.whizh@yahoo.com

    SHENZHEN has taken another big leap with its innovative design industry as the city signed memorandum of understandings with international industry alliances and saw seven projects inked between overseas and local design companies at the Third China (Shenzhen) Industrial Design Fair on Sunday.

    Following the host of agreements, the city will welcome design and innovative enterprises from Singapore, Denmark and Italy. The city will be home to a Florence design center and a Danish design center will be set up in the Sino-Finland Design Park.

    The fair, which showcased about 6,000 designs, including wearable devices, robots, smart gadgets, home appliances and vehicles, was highly appraised by exhibitors from home and abroad for the quality of products and innovation.

    Brandon Gien, president of Internal Council of Societies of Industrial Design, who visited the fair for the first time, said the city has greatly improved its profile in design and the fair is as good as any fair overseas.

    Gien said that the gap between Chinese design and good designs from around the world is getting smaller but added that quality remains what Chinese designers should learn from their foreign counterparts. He also encouraged Chinese designers to use more natural materials, such as timber, which is less exhaustible and environmentally friendly.

    Naohiro Hayaishi, chief technology officer of PLEN Project Company who was also on his first visit to the fair, said he was shocked to see so many good designs from Shenzhen companies and thinks Chinese designs are maturing in the world market.

    In a bid to promote innovation in the city, Shenzhen will launch a charitable maker project next month to fund 10 makers for an exchange trip to the U.S. in 2016.

    The 10 makers will pay a month-long visit to high-tech companies and maker incubators in Silicon Valley and share what they’ve learned there with local makers thanks to support from the Shenzhen Foundation for International Exchange and Cooperation. Local makers can submit their application for the project by email at maker2015@yeah.net.