The final contest of 2022 China-ASEAN Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was held in a hybrid format on January 9, 2023 in Nanning, China. The competition was jointly organized by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the ASEAN Secretariat. Zhang Guangjun, Vice-Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology; Satvinder Singh, Deputy Secretary-General of the ASEAN Secretariat; and Hou Yanqi, Chinese Ambassador to the ASEAN, attended the contest online and made speeches.
Vice-Minister Zhang Guangjin said that at the ASEAN-China special summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of ASEAN-China dialogue relations in November 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China and ASEAN have established comprehensive strategic partnership, and launched the Science, Technology and Innovation(STI) Enhancement Plan. In December 2021, Wang Zhigang, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology, put forward the initiative of building a China-ASEAN Innovation and Entrepreneurship Camp at a special meeting of the China-ASEAN Ministers of Science and Technology. The initiative received positive response from ASEAN states. In order to implement the important instructions of President Xi Jinping and the initiative of the special ministerial meeting, and strengthen the exchange and cooperation between China and ASEAN countries in STI and entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the ASEAN Secretariat decided to jointly hold the 2022 China-ASEAN Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. The Competition not only offers a stage for innovators and entrepreneurs to demonstrate their capabilities, but also serves as a platform for exchange and cooperation. It is hoped that the participants will take advantage of this opportunity to conduct in-depth exchanges, learn from each other, and promote high-quality cooperation on innovation and entrepreneurship.
The 2022 China-ASEAN Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition is themed on “Innovation Cooperation for a Shared Future”. As an important part and the highlight of the China-ASEAN Innovation and Entrepreneurship Camp, the Competition has received strong support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the ASEAN Secretariat and the departments in charge of STI in ASEAN countries. The Competition focused on four areas - modern agriculture, digital economy, biomedicine & health, energy conservation and environmental protection, and solicited entries from universities, research institutes, enterprises and NGOs. A total of 71 teams entered the second round of contest in three venues in Singapore, Bangkok, and Nanning. They came from China, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam. After fierce conpetition, 20 high-quality projects stood out and entered the final contest.
These 20 projects were divided into groups of teams and groups of enterprises, and their characteristics and advantages were demonstrated through roadshows and Q&As. The jury questioned the contestants and made a score based on six criterias, namely, technology and product features, business model and implementation plan, industry and market prospect, teamwork, financial analysis and display impact. The first, second and third prizes were decided according to the rank of the scores. In order to spur the enthusiasm of young entrepreneurs and innovators, 10 team groups and 10 enterprises were accredited “Star of Cooperation” and “Star of Creativity” respectively.
The Competition is the first of its kind jointly held by China and ASEAN. It aims to establish a constant mechanism to connect STI resources, promote the two-way flow of innovative elements such as scientific and technological achievements, capital, human resources, information and data between China and ASEAN, deepen exchanges and cooperation, enhance regional innovation, and to accelerate building a close China- ASEAN community of shared future.
