The 3rd China (Shenzhen) Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition will be officially launched on December 1st, 2018. The competition will attract numerous high-quality overseas projects, as well as integrate innovation and entrepreneurship resources to help foreign innovation and entrepreneurship projects connect with Chinese hi-tech industrial resources, thus expanding the Chinese market for mutual benefits and win-win results.
Registration for the competition is open from December 1st, 2018 to February 28th, 2019. In March 2019, 10 different sessions of Overseas Division Competitions will be held in 10 cities across 9 countries, while the preliminary round for the Professional Competition is scheduled to start at the same time. In April 2019, more than 100 outstanding projects selected from the Overseas Division Competitions and Professional Competition will meet in Shenzhen and compete in multiple rounds including Professional Finals, Industrial Finals and Finals for the highest honors and awards of the competition. The competition offers a total prize of RMB11.2 million, including RMB2.9 million for Overseas Division Finals, RMB1.5 million for Professional Finals, RMB2.5 million for Industrial Finals and RMB4.3 million for Finals. One contestant may stand the chance to win a total prize of RMB1.4 million. In addition to the generous prizes, the competition also provides high-quality entrepreneurship projects with support such as industrial incentives, financial technology and project incubation. Highlights of this year’s competition include:
(1) Innovation and opening up to connect the global highlands of innovation. This year’s international competition will continue to connect global cities and regions to achieve an expanded scale. A new session of the Overseas Division Competitions has been added to the previous nine sessions and will be held in Madrid (Spain). Therefore, there will be a total of ten sessions of the Overseas Division Competitions, which will be held in Sydney (Australia), Toronto (Canada), Berlin (Germany), Tel Aviv (Israel), Tokyo (Japan), Stockholm (Sweden), Madrid (Spain), Boston (U.S.A.), Silicon Valley (U.S.A.) and London (U.K.).
(2) Optimized profession that is tailored towards the industrial development in Shenzhen. To vigorously implement the innovation-driven development strategy and establish an industrial structure and new competition advantages, the competition has added the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Financial Technology to the previous five Industrial Competitions of Internet, Advanced Manufacturing, Electronic Science and Technology, Biology and Life Science and Technology, as well as Materials & Energy (including energy conservation and environmental protection). Contestants may register projects under both Professional Competitions and Industrial Competitions, provided that they meet the required conditions.
(3) Gathering of venture capital investment and integration of resources for a win-win future. Up to 40 venture capital organizations are going to participate in the international competition. A number of renowned investment organizations represented by Shenzhen Capital Group, Shenzhen Green Pine Capital, Oriental Fortune Capital, Cowincapital and Green Orange Capital will connect directly during the competition and form a venture capital fund pool of RMB25 billion to carry out portfolio investment on outstanding competition projects. During the division competitions, investment organizations and investors from Shenzhen will serve as judges and supervisors and engage in project connections in different countries and divisions. All participating projects will be provided with social capital investment opportunities through the investment connection service platform of the competition. Meanwhile, two banks will be selected to offer various forms of financial service solutions such as “investment and financing loans” and “talent loans” so as to offer more options to the settling companies in terms of financing and facilitate the development of contestants.
Shenzhen has impressed overseas entrepreneurs with its outstanding innovation and entrepreneurship environment through the international competition. As a result, Shenzhen’s image as a city of innovation and its reputation overseas have been further enhanced. As a platform that motivates the innovation potential and vitality of the entire society, the competition propels innovation-driven development and drives new opportunities for scientific and technological innovation in Shenzhen.
The competition shall commence on December 1st, 2018 and participants are required to register before February 28th, 2019. Please visit the official website http://www.itcsz.cn/ to register.
