The finals of the Ninth "Qingchuang Taicang" — "Zhenghe Cup" Sino-German Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition were successfully held in Taicang on Oct 30.
Sonja Hibing hosts the opening ceremony. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The "Zhenghe Cup", organized by the "Qingchuang Taicang" Organizing Committee and hosted by the NaviDE Innovation and Transformation Center, attracted numerous young entrepreneurs from both China and Germany to participate.
The projects registered for this competition covered a wide range of hot industries, including intelligent manufacturing, the digital economy, biopharmaceuticals, and more, fully demonstrating the current market trends in innovation and technological content.
Ultimately, 10 projects advanced to the on-site presentation stage. Through impressive speeches and presentations, the project leaders fully elaborated on the innovation points, market prospects, and team strengths of their respective projects. The judges conducted in-depth questioning and commenting based on the characteristics of each project, pointing out their shortcomings while also providing valuable suggestions and opinions.
A live roadshow is presented by a Chinese participant. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
After fierce competition, projects entitled "Ultra-fast and Ultra-low Power Chip Research, Development, and Industrialization", "Innovation and Industrialization of Ceramic CBN Grinding Wheels", and "Wisdom Weaving - Pioneer of Domestic Small Tow Carbon Fiber Intelligent Laying and Wrapping Equipment" won the first, second, and third prizes of the competition. Among them, the first and second prize-winning projects will advance to the final competition of the "Qingchuang Taicang" series of events.
The "Qingchuang Taicang" series of events is an innovation and entrepreneurship platform for youth established by the Taicang municipal Party committee and municipal government. It has been held continuously for nine years since 2016 and has become a local brand event.
The competition has become a medium to promote the excellent innovation and entrepreneurship environment in Taicang, and to attract young talent and investment from home and abroad, fully demonstrating the charm of Taicang as a "youth development-oriented city".
An online roadshow is presented by German participant. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Taicang, known as the "hometown of German enterprises in China", has been deeply engaged in cooperation with Germany for more than 30 years. Based on industrial cooperation, highlighted by vocational education, and mediated through cultural and sports exchanges, with technological innovation as the driving force, Taicang has gathered over 500 German enterprises and created a multi-faceted and in-depth cooperation pattern with Germany across various fields such as industry, science and education, culture and sports, and public welfare.
The "Zhenghe Cup" Sino-German Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, as the so-called golden signboard of Taicang's innovation and entrepreneurship cooperation with Germany, not only provides a platform for young entrepreneurs to showcase themselves but also builds a bridge for youth talents from China and Germany to learn from each other, exchange ideas, cooperate, and grow together.
The successful hosting of the "Zhenghe Cup" further demonstrates Taicang's leading position and unique advantages in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship. In the future, Taicang will expand the breadth and depth of cooperation with Germany in all aspects, strengthen the intensity and force of talent recruitment, and provide broader development space and a more friendly entrepreneurial ecosystem for more young entrepreneurs, allowing more flowers of Sino-German cooperation to bloom in the fertile land of innovation and entrepreneurship in Taicang.
