11th Jinji Lake Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition Unveils New Format to Empower Youth Talent and Attract Global Innovators

To deeply implement the strategy of strengthening the country through talent in the new era and accelerate the construction of a regional benchmark for modernized talent development, the latest competition format for the 11th Jinji Lake Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was officially released on April 28. The new edition of the competition will optimize its organizational format, introduce a special track for young talents, aggregate top global scientific and technological innovation resources, comprehensively stimulate the vitality of talent-driven innovation and entrepreneurship, and accelerate the formation of an optimal ecosystem for talent development, thereby helping the seeds of innovation and entrepreneurship grow vigorously toward the sun.

As the host of the competition, Suzhou Industrial Park has, after 28 years of development, become one of the most open, highest-quality and efficient, most innovative, and business-friendly regions in China. It is hailed as an important window into China’s reform and opening-up policy and a successful model of international cooperation. A representative from the Park’s Talent Office stated that the park adheres to the philosophy of “attracting and utilizing top talent from around the world.” By leveraging the Jinji Lake Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition as a key mechanism for gathering global innovation resources, the park is seizing the critical opportunity presented by the establishment of national-level scientific and technological innovation platforms within its boundaries, including the National Biopharmaceutical Technology Innovation Center, the National Third-Generation Semiconductor Technology Innovation Center, and the core zone of the National New Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation Development Pilot Zone. The park is committed to expanding the reach of the competition, accelerating the creation of an optimal ecosystem for talent development, and fully supporting domestic and overseas talents in launching innovative ventures and businesses in the park, fostering shared growth and achieving mutual success.

Jinji Lake Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition is a platform for high-level talents from home and abroad to innovate and start businesses, established to serve the national talent strategy. It is jointly hosted by the China Venture Talent Investment Center and the Overseas High-Level Talents Experts Association. Since its launch in 2012, it has successfully held ten editions, with cumulative project financing exceeding RMB 15.8 billion.

The 11th Jinji Lake Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition will explore new beginnings and further upgrade innovation, featuring three sub-events: the Entrepreneurship Competition, the Young Entrepreneur Talent Special Competition, and the Innovation Competition. The Entrepreneurship Competition is open to enterprises established within the past four years or projects that have not yet incorporated. After preliminary rounds, semi-finals, and industry-specific finals, 15 projects will advance to the Global Finals. The Young Entrepreneur Talent Special Competition targets enterprises established within the past four years or unincorporated projects whose founders are no older than 35 years. Following preliminary rounds and finals, five projects will advance to the Global Finals. The Innovation Competition is designed for innovative talents with technological achievements who intend to return to China for full-time employment at technology companies or research institutions. Through a three-stage selection process comprising initial document review, expert evaluation, and talent roadshows, participants will finalize formal contractual cooperation with employing organizations.

“Talent is the primary resource, and innovation is the primary driving force.” As a high-quality platform for showcasing high-level talent from both domestic and international sources, facilitating resource matchmaking, and deeply advancing the construction of an innovation ecosystem, this edition of the competition has, for the first time, established a special track for young entrepreneurial talents under the age of 35. Leveraging the competition as a foundation, we aim to maximize the precision of attracting and nurturing young talent, create an optimal ecosystem for their development, build a highland for gathering young talent, and guide them to take on major responsibilities and shoulder critical tasks. By courageously venturing into “uncharted territories” and scaling “formidable heights” within the industrial park, they will become the backbone supporting China’s technological innovation. Meanwhile, the newly added Innovation Competition will establish effective channels for matchmaking, making greater efforts to help innovative talents—particularly overseas innovators—achieve precise alignment with talent-recruiting entities such as domestic technology enterprises and research institutions. Through a “horse-racing” mechanism, this initiative seeks to foster collaboration and pool strengths to break through a batch of “chokepoint” technologies.

Since its inception, the Jinji Lake Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition has been held in more than 30 major cities worldwide, spanning Asia, Europe, and North America. In 2021, the competition launched the “Global City Partner Program,” collaborating with 25 cities, 59 entrepreneurs, and investors around the world to continuously attract top-tier global talent and high-quality innovative projects.

This year, the competition will upgrade and enhance the “Global City Partner Program.” While continuing to intensify efforts to recruit outstanding global talent as “City Partners,” it will also establish collaborative mechanisms with universities, research institutions, and leading enterprises. This initiative aims to facilitate a “two-way match” between startup projects and industrial platforms, as well as between innovative talent and employers, thereby further improving the precision of talent attraction for the National Biopharmaceutical Technology Innovation Center, the National Third-Generation Semiconductor Technology Innovation Center, and the National New Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation Development Pilot Zone, thus maximizing the channel value of the competition’s Global City Partners.

Wei Zhe, a member of the Competition Steering Committee and Founding Partner and Chairman of Vision Knight Capital, stated that the Jinji Lake Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition is no longer just a simple contest; it has built a comprehensive ecosystem that aggregates resources and serves innovation and entrepreneurship, fostering a robust virtuous cycle. This has become one of the key highlights attracting innovative and entrepreneurial talent to participate in the competition.

As the operator managing the China Entrepreneurial Talent Investment Center, a representative from Yuanhe Holdings stated that over the years, the competition has fostered deep collaborations with investment institutions and industry leaders. By leveraging dual perspectives from both the investment and industrial sectors, the competition helps participating projects refine their business models, guide technological directions, and connect with various resources. After the competition, participants continue to benefit from comprehensive, full-lifecycle entrepreneurial services provided by the Center, including financing matchmaking, startup training, and market expansion. This approach not only supports projects in getting started but also provides sustained assistance, sharing opportunities and co-creating value with talents.