With a favorable entrepreneurial environment, Shenzhen is establishing itself as a key gateway to attract and incubate overseas innovation initiatives, helping them to tap into global opportunities with China as the springboard.

At the final of the 9th China (Shenzhen) Innovation and Entrepreneurship International Competition, which took place in Shenzhen on Tuesday, 21 innovative projects from overseas competition divisions presented their promising business potential to compete for prize money totaling 8.84 million yuan ($1.25 million).

They had advanced from nearly 3,000 projects across 11 global innovation hubs, including from Boston in the United States, several European cities, Tokyo, Japan and Singapore.

Representing frontier developments from seven emerging industries, the final round featured innovations that utilized gene editing to drive upgrades in the biosynthesis industry, and the employment of next-generation electronic information in boosting artificial intelligence. Additionally, laser-based advanced glass manufacturing and biobased dye projects stood out among high-end equipment manufacturing and green development projects in the competition.

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The participating teams could earn a top prize of 750,000 yuan, while projects that establish operations in Shenzhen may be eligible for a startup subsidy of up to 1 million yuan.

Additionally, they can access an investment pool of 25 billion yuan formed by over 50 venture capital firms, as well as comprehensive services to help accelerate their incubation and establish a presence in China.

The first prize was awarded to the next-generation electronic information project for it’s disruptive technology, mature business model and broad market prospects.

Marcus Yang, founder of a new material project, said his team focuses on developing advanced diamond materials for high-tech applications like quantum sensing and semiconductor thermal management.

Given Shenzhen’s vibrant innovation environment, active capital and strong talent pool, the team is eager to achieve rapid commercialization in the city. Additionally, the surrounding industrial chain can help reduce their raw material costs, which reach up to $3,000 per carat internationally, he added.

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Lucie Semenec, a competitor from Australia, said her project leverages biotechnology to produce safe and eco-friendly dyes for textiles and cosmetic productions.

Expressing a strong desire to advance the project’s presence in China, she said she was particularly attracted by the country’s role in textile innovation as the world’s largest textile producer and exporter, as well as Shenzhen’s advanced biotechnology capabilities.

Cao Jianhui, a government official working in the Human Resources and Social Security Administration of Shenzhen Municipality, said that nearly 90 projects involved in the competition have expressed intent to settle in Shenzhen. He emphasized the high caliber of the contest’s participants, noting that over 50 percent of them hold doctoral degrees.

Efim Isaakovich Zelmanov, one of the competition judges and a mathematics expert from the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, said he foresees the projects having a profound impact on social development.

The competition supports projects that offer significant returns alongside equivalent risks, underscoring Shenzhen's status as an innovation hub, he said, adding that business success not only requires a grand vision but also feasibility and alignment with industry needs.

Yang Guandong, investment director of Shenzhen-based Oriental Fortune Capital, said there was a high proportion of artificial intelligence-related projects in the final round of the competition, most of which had an international perspective, which attracted attention from both upstream and downstream industries.

China and the US exhibit significant complementary advantages in AI field, he added, and many promising projects in the US AI sector are developed by overseas Chinese. The competition provides an excellent platform for them to return and further develop their innovations, he said.

Contact the writer at bingcun@chinadailyhk.com