A TOTAL of 1,210 items will be at the regional contests of the First China (Shenzhen) Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition, which will be held in eight areas across the world, namely Silicon Valley, Sydney, Toronto, Munich, Tel Aviv, London, Tokyo and Bangalore, the third-largest city in India, between March 16 and 30.

    The 80 winners, 10 from each regional contest, will be eligible for the final contest, which will be held in Shenzhen on April 14, the eve of the Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP).

    The competition is open to any high-caliber overseas talent and project regardless of nationality and will offer a total of 9.12 million yuan (US$1.34 million) to the final winners.

    The top winner will be awarded up to 1.25 million yuan at an awards ceremony during the CIEP between April 15 and 16, according to Shenzhen Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the organizer.

    The competition, which originated from the Shenzhen International Talent Competition, was organized in response to the call for mass entrepreneurship and innovation. The competition in 2016 attracted 600 items. A total of 25 items made it to the final contest and 15 projects signed agreements with eight industrial parks in Shenzhen. Seven of them have settled in Shenzhen.

    The number of applicants has doubled compared to last year. The organizer has received 207 applications for the regional competition in the United States and 192 applications in the U.K.

    Most of the applications are for projects or items from four sectors — electronic technology, which makes up 36.6 percent of the total, information technology, at 28.3 percent, material and energy, at 15.6 percent, and biologic science at 13.4 percent.

    Among the applicants are 750 foreign competitors, accounting for 60 percent, and 40 percent of the contestants have doctorate degrees.

    For this year’s event, 60 venture capital institutions will build a venture capital pool amounting to 700 million yuan for portfolio investment in the winning projects.

    In addition, the organizer will offer supportive policies, such as talent management incentives, industrial incentives, technological finance and project incubation.

    (Han Ximin)