The Dream Factory of China

Source :Shenzhen Daily

Thirty startup teams stood out among 100 semifinalists from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in the second round of The Fifth Qianhai Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Taiwan Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, announced by organizers of the competition at Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Fund Town Friday morning.

They will compete next month for 3 million yuan (US$428,572) worth of prizes in the final of the competition, which is themed “Dream Big” this year.

The competition, initiated in 2016 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, and to deepen exchanges among the youths on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, has attracted over 500 startup teams from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan this year, accounting for half of the total contestants.

In addition to the total prizes of 7 million yuan for the competition, the Qianhai authority has also rolled out a number of policies to support, both monetary and in-kind, the development of young entrepreneurs from Hong Kong and Macao in the free trade area.

An entrepreneur camp was held at the competition in which entrepreneurship mentors were invited to share their experiences of starting new businesses and how to deal with the issues such as corporate financing with the contestants at the Fund Town. The entrepreneurship camp was also live streamed for young entrepreneurs in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

A sideline event of a tour of the newly inaugurated Qianhai International Conference Center where an exhibition on the 40th anniversary of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone is being held was also organized for the contestants after the competition.

After five years of development, the competition has become a well-known event in the innovation and entrepreneurship circles in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Macao. An accumulative 5,000 startup teams, with more than 40 percent coming from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, have taken part in the competition over the past five years.

The competition is jointly organized by the Qianhai Authority, Shenzhen Municipal Science and Technology Innovation Commission, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Offices of Shenzhen Municipal Government and other government agencies in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao.