On April 23, ZHANG Laiwu, Director of the Executive Committee of the Contest and Vice Minister of MOST, briefed the press on the First National Agricultural Innovation and Pioneering Contest (the Contest) in Beijing.

With the theme of “Innovation makes a difference to the world, Pioneering makes your dreams come true”, the Contest is aimed at combining venture investment with agricultural technological pioneering, driving modern agriculture through modern service industry, and attracting world-class agricultural pioneering teams with favorable policies and conditions. The Contest highlights high-tech biological agriculture, green agriculture, precision agriculture in order to explore the path of modern agriculture with high added value, and support the pioneering teams made up of university graduates and technical task force (TTF).

The contest will last from March to November. There are two contest zones—South and North—with Shenzhen and Yangling Demo Zone as the locations respectively. The participants fall into two groups: Growth Enterprise Team and Start-up Project Team. Winners will receive prize money and get the support from the Angel Investment Fund of China Agricultural Technology and Investment Corporation and various favorable policies from Yangling Demo Zone.

The Organizing Committee of the Contest consists of MOST, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Peking University, Tsinghua University, China Agricultural Technology and Investment Corporation, Yangling Demo Area Zone, among others.