The Final of the 1st China Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation and Start-up Competition was held in Beijing on January 20, 2011. A total of 1,771 entries were submitted, and 122 entries entered into the second round after preliminary contest. 40 entries were awarded after the Final which featured a live Q&A session.

The first prize in the Start-up Category went to ‘Comprehensive Development of Agricultural Plant Resources in Saline Soils’, a project from Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. A Beijing project named ‘Modern Agriculture – Developing Large-scale Pasturelands’ won the first prize in the Growing Enterprise Category. They receive RMB 2 million yuan and RMB 10 million yuan worth of Angel Investment respectively.

Mr. WAN Gang, Minister of Science and Technology, made a speech on behalf of the Organizing Committee. Vice Minister of Science and Technology ZHANG Laiwu, Vice Minister of Education DU Zhanyuan, along with other officials from relevant government bodies including the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the State Forestry Administration (SFA), and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League (CCCYL), presented the awards to winners of the first, second and third prizes, as well as excellent organizers such as the Yangling Agricultural Hi-Tech Industries Demonstration Zone, the Shenzhen Science, Industry, Trading and Information Commission (SZSITIC), and the Science and Technology Departments of Shandong, Jiangsu, Hainan and Fujian.