Han Ximin

1824295095@qq.com

A TOTAL of 253 participants from 30 countries and regions around the world will vie for prizes at the finals of the 7th China (Shenzhen) Innovation and Entrepreneurship International Competition, which will be held in Longgang District on Thursday.

With a total of 185 innovative and entrepreneurial projects, the contestants will first compete in the finals of seven major industry categories today and tomorrow. The 21 winning projects will compete for the championship Thursday.

The seven main categories by industry are new-generation electronic information, digital and fashion, high-end equipment manufacturing, green and low carbon, new materials, biomedicine and health, and marine economy.

The competition offers a prize pool of 9.71 million yuan (US$1.34 million), and the top winner will have the opportunity to win a maximum total of 1.75 million yuan in prize money and entrepreneurial subsidies.

A venture capital pool of 25 billion yuan has been set up by over 50 investment institutions to encourage outstanding projects to settle in the city.

To allow international entrepreneurial teams to fully understand the urban landscape and business environment of Shenzhen, the organizers are hosting a “Fly with Shenzhen” event during the competition. A series of activities will be organized, including policy promotion, city tours, visits to outstanding enterprises and research institutions, and investment matchmaking services.

The competition started in August last year with 14 overseas regional contests held in 13 countries and regions. A total of 3,265 high-quality projects around the world signed up for the competition, and 2,768 of them successfully qualified as entries. The number of contestants reached 3,531, increasing by 64.69% over the previous edition of the competition, and set a new record for the event. More than 50% of the competitors had doctoral degrees or above, and over 60% were foreigners, according to the organizers.

The competition, which aims to integrate innovation and entrepreneurial resources, assist overseas innovation and entrepreneurship projects in accessing Chinese high-tech industrial resources, open the Chinese market, and realize mutual benefits and win-win results, is open to all foreign innovation and entrepreneurship projects.

Since its inception in 2016, the competition has witnessed nearly 200 projects reach cooperation agreements with Shenzhen, 60 projects settle in the city, and more than 100 overseas high-end professionals realize their innovation dreams in Shenzhen. Nearly 50 projects have signed intention agreements to settle in the city since the launch of this year’s competition, and two projects have registered companies in Shenzhen.