I. Competition name

China (Qingdao) Overseas Talents Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition

II. Schedule and Location

Schedule: January-June 2020

Finals: June 11-14, 2020, Qingdao West Coast New District,China

III. Organizing Entities

Sponsors: China Association for Science and Technology and the People’s Government of Shandong Province

Organizers: Qingdao Association for Science and Technology, Qingdao West Coast New Area Management Committee and China Overseas Returnees Venture Alliance

Overseas co-organizers: China Association for Science and Technology FCPAE European startups and innovation base, China Overseas-Educated Scholars Development Foundation, Japan-China Science, Technology and Culture Center, New York Empowering Entrepreneurs, Sino-European Federation of Lifesciences, China-Israel Economic and Cultural Exchange Promotion Association, Ausinan Science & Technology Society Incorporated, Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs and Professionals Association, Top Talents UK, Ivy League of High-tech Entrepreneurs, Federation of Chinese Professional Associations in Europe (FCPAE), Chinese High-tech Business Association in UK, China-Britain Technology Trade Association, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Association in Singapore, Technology and Commerce Association of Chinese in Germany, North American Chinese Student Association,etc.

IV. Features of the Competition

(i) local policy support

1. Winners of the first, second, third and honorable mention prizes in the finals with achieving commercialization in the New Area within one year after the competition will be awarded RMB 1.5 million yuan, RMB 1 million yuan, RMB 500,000 yuan and RMB 200,000 yuan, respectively by the Qingdao West Coast New Area.

2. Highlights of the Qingdao West Coast New Area policy of “bringing in investment and talents from overseas” is attached in the Notice.

(ii) Capital support

About one hundred Well-known domestic investors will be invited to observe the competition to provide funding opportunities for high-quality projects and directly join in the funding of the competition for business incubation, innovation and cooperation

(iii) Global talents

Global talents are expected to participate in the competition from various countries and regions, such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Israel, Japan, Russia and Ukraine, etc.

V. Competition contents

The competition will focus on strategic emerging industries globally such as integrated circuit and chip design, big data and artificial intelligence, 5G, biomedicine and medical devices, new materials and high-end equipment. Projects with innovativeness and high growth potential are encouraged to enter the competition. The competition is divided into the following three groups by areas of expertise:

(1) Artificial intelligence: sensor technology, 5G, intelligent control, smart cities, robot applications, industrial Internet applications, etc.;

(2) Big health industry: biomedicine, medical equipment, intelligent health care, and health management, etc.;

(3) High-end equipment: rail transit, intelligent manufacturing, electronic equipment, engineering machinery, instrument and apparatus, new energy and new materials, special automation equipment, and modern service industries, etc.

VI. Requirements

Participants eligible for the competition include individuals, teams or companies from overseas. The relevant qualifications are as follows:

Individuals (teams): There is no age requirement for individual participants or team leaders, but a master’s degree or above obtained from overseas is required. Participating projects shall be in a mature stage with business plans prepared for the target area of the competition. Relevant technologies shall be leading domestically and in line with the industrial development directions of Shandong with a good market prospect and commercialization readiness.

Companies: High-growth, technology-based and innovative companies closely related to the industries in the target areas of the competition are encouraged to participate. The company founders (or technology leaders) shall have a master’s degree or above from overseas and hold more than 30% of the company’s shares.

All participating projects are required to be start-up projects in principle; core members of the participating project must have legal intellectual property rights or be authorized to use the IP rights of the project. Individuals (teams) and companies that have previously settled in Shandong are not eligible for the competition.

VII. Competition procedure

The competition consists of four stages: application, preliminary review, online primaries and finals in Qingdao.

(1) Application (deadline: March 31, 2020). Projects for the competition shall be recommended by Sino-foreign cooperative entities, industrial institutions, investment institutions, universities and scientific research institutes, and register online on the competition Website (http://techtalentsuk.mikecrm.com/s9FCBJz).

(2) Preliminary review of tryouts (before April 15, 2020). A review panel comprised of 15 experts (5 in each field) in industrial technology, venture capital institutions, well-known enterprise executives, and representatives from the government, will select 180 outstanding projects to be qualified for online primaries.

(3) Online primaries (before May 10, 2020). 180 shortlisted projects are required to give video presentation and oral defense in the group they are competing in the online primaries. The time limit for each project presentation is 15 minutes in total (including 5 minutes for answering the questions from two judges). 20 projects will be selected from 60 projects of each group to advance to the finals in Qingdao.

(4) The Finals in Qingdao (June 11-14, 2020). Projects selected to enter the Finals in Qingdao after being confirmed by the organizing committee will meet in Qingdao during the 22nd annual session of the China Association for Science and Technology. A maximum of 3 members of each team may participate in the roadshow defense. The roadshow defense of each project is limited to 20 minutes including 10 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for Q&A.

After the project roadshow, on-site defense, and comprehensive assessment, 1 first-prize winner, 2 second-prize winners, 3 third-prize winners, and 4 honorable mention prize winners from each group will be selected, and a competition award ceremony will be held with the presence of national leaders.

(5) The review of the competition. The review panel for the finals will be composed of national level technical experts, well-known venture capital partners, and industrial economic experts to ensure that the winning projects are selected based on the principles of “fairness, justice and openness”. In addition to evaluating the product innovation, commercialization prospects and core teams, the feasibility of project commercialization will also be assessed. The competition organizing committee will determine the final list of winners and make announcements based on the results.

VIII. Awards

(1) Awards: 3 first prizes, 6 second prizes, 9 third prizes, and 12 honorable mention prize winners will be selected in the finals.

(2) Subsidies for entering the finals. The room and board expenses for the participants (teams) selected to compete in the finals in Qingdao will be borne by the organizing committee. Certain amount of international travel subsidies will be provided.

IX. Reminders

(1) Participants must be responsible for the authenticity of their submittals, with no plagiarism, misappropriation, pirating and other illegal misuses. Once found, the eligibility for participation will be nullified. Violators caught after winning the award will be disqualified from receiving any financial incentives. If there are any intellectual property disputes involving the participating projects, the related participants shall assume all the responsibilities.

(2) The materials submitted by the participants will be reviewed by the judging panel for the reference of the competition organizing committee, which will be strictly kept confidential.