2nd China Shenzhen Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition — Japan Regional Round

On Saturday 24 March 2018 the Japan Regional Round of the 2nd China Shenzhen Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition was held at Tobu Hotel Levant Tokyo in Kinshicho. The round took place before the Association was founded, and the Association was not its organiser. It is recorded here because Jiang Feng, later the Association's founding president, served as master of ceremonies and several future officers of the Association sat on the judging panel, making the event an important step on the road to the Association's founding.

Overview

The 2nd International Competition was held under the guidance of China's Ministry of Science and Technology and State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and hosted by the Shenzhen Municipal Government. The Japan round, one of nine regional rounds, was run by the Shenzhen Overseas High-Level Talent Liaison Office in Japan and organised by Tian An Cyber Park Group and the Japan New Overseas Chinese News Agency. After promotion at more than 30 Japanese universities and over 20 overseas Chinese organisations, 152 projects applied and 20 reached the final. Around 150 guests attended, including Jing Chunhai, Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, Du Bin of the Shenzhen Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, and Huang Huibo, Deputy District Mayor of Longgang.

Programme

• Opening: Du Bin invited high-level talent in Japan to build careers in Shenzhen; Huang Huibo presented Longgang District's innovation and start-up policies
• Pitches: 20 finalists presented and took questions in five fields: life sciences, electronics, materials and energy, internet and mobile internet, and advanced manufacturing
• Judges included Xia Huichang (Bank of Communications Tokyo Branch), Diao Xu (State Power Investment Corporation, Japan), Zhang Linfeng (ZTE), Wu Tao (DJI Japan) and Wang Yuanyao (Zhongwang Technology)
• Awards: Yu Zhirong, Chief Representative of the Shenzhen Economic and Trade Office in Japan, outlined Shenzhen's innovation-led development strategy

Winners

• First prize: Kunio Miyachi's team (bioabsorbable painless needle for local anaesthesia)
• Second prize: Xu Fucheng's team (organic solid-waste fermentation system); Ken Tanba's team (AR technology for business)
• Third prize: Tian Shengyi's team (green manufacturing of next-generation membranes); Ke Mengnan's team (active optical cable for optical interconnects); Takahiro Mikami's team (medical project)

The connections made at this competition carried through to the participants' networking event that June and to the founding of the Association in September.