SAN FRANCISCO, April 23 (Xinhua) -- An innovation and entrepreneurship contest organized by Chinese enterprises aims to tap into the talent of Silicon Valley, a sponsor of the event said on Tuesday at an opening ceremony.
The 2019 JD.COM Cup -- the Sixth TEDA Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenge, organized by JD Group, one of the leading e-commerce platforms in China, and Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA), kicked off late Tuesday in Santa Clara, California, to seek industrial solutions from participants in Silicon Valley.
The challenge will integrate resources, including leading enterprises, academic and research institutions, as well as innovation platforms, to facilitate cross-border exchanges and promote innovation and entrepreneurship, said Mona Li, executive director of Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association (HYSTA), which sponsored the launching event.
Five challenging topics were announced at the event, namely predictions of customers' purchase of products, automatic driving traffic sign recognition, intelligent energy engineering real-scene recognition, key technology breakthrough of saline-alkali soil conditioner, and behavior analysis and recognition algorithm.
The deadline for submissions is May 31 and the finalists will be announced in early June. A special fund of 100,000 yuan (about 14,871 U.S. dollars) will be awarded for each contest topic.
In the case of successful collaboration between a technology supplier and a buyer, a special support fund of up to 5 million yuan (about 744,000 dollars) will be set aside for the project, according to the organizer.
The launching event attracted many software engineers and startup entrepreneurs.
"This contest is new in terms of the challenge topics. Most of the contests gather investors and startups who pitch their technology or projects," said Jim Liu, a software engineer in Silicon Valley.
"It was an effective way for enterprises to recruit talent or find partners," said Liu, who attended the event.
HYSTA, a non-profit organization that aims at cross-border business collaboration between the United States and China, has sponsored a number of such contests in recent years, said Li.
"We have seen an increased interest from local participants. China is very appealing to them with its huge market and capital. Partnership with a big company will help a small startup grow in leaps and bounds," Li said.
