THE 11th China (Shenzhen) innovation and entrepreneurship competition and the sixth Bao’an innovation and entrepreneurship competition were recently held at Bao’an Huiju Science and Technology Innovation Park.

The total prize in this year’s competition is set at 11 million yuan (US$1.64 million) with 66 prize items.

New innovation prizes, including an award for the most promising Hong Kong and Macao projects and an award for the most charming women’s projects, were added to this year’s competition to encourage young people from Hong Kong and Macao to start businesses in Bao’an District and to buoy up innovation among women, the report said.

Additionally, there were two special awards, namely the most media-favored prize and the most jobseeker-favored prize.

Apart from offering financial incentives, Bao’an District also established a one-on-one tracking mechanism to help award-winning projects look for resources to settle in Bao’an and provide other follow-up services.

The competition was hosted by the Bao’an District Government and organized by the Science, Technology and Innovation Bureau of Bao’an District.

Since its launch in 2014, the competition has aimed to provide a platform for entrepreneurs to connect with resources, increase value and boost development.

Overall, 6,410 projects have participated in the competition over the past five years. Among them, 237, or 74.8 percent of the winning projects from previous years, have already settled in Bao’an and are growing.

Various high-tech methods have been applied for the sixth Bao’an innovation and entrepreneurship competition. For example, big data was used for the first time to make the review process more efficient.

(Wang Jingli)