The finals of the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition (2023) were held at Tianjin University on Dec. 6, in conjunction with a signing ceremony for project matchmaking and implementation. Chen Min’er, Communist Party Secretary of Tianjin, attended related activities along with major officials of the Tianjin Municipal Government and leaders of Tianjin University. Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng and Mayor of Tianjin Zhang Gong also attended and delivered addresses.
Huai extended his congratulations to the contestants, quoting President Xi Jinping’s remarks that youth, living in a prosperous time and shouldering heavy responsibilities, are a generation advancing with the new era. He said the competition offered a great opportunity for young college students to showcase their talent and helped foster scientific research while accelerating integration of scientific discovery and technological innovation.
He stressed the need to further leverage the competition by: (1) Promoting the development of basic disciplines, emerging disciplines, and interdisciplinary studies, with a particular emphasis on new disciplines in engineering, medical, agricultural, and liberal arts, and optimizing joint training programs in higher education by incorporating resources both within and outside higher education institutions, in order to produce top-level innovative talent; (2) Integrating all elements and factors effectively to build an integrated cultivation ecosystem for innovative talent, thus deepening the links between vocational education and general education, between industry and academic institutions, and between scientific research and education; and (3) Establishing a world-class platform for exchange and cooperation among international youth based on mutual learning, resource sharing, and coordinated progress, in order to propel educational cooperation in the age of digital innovation to new heights.
In his speech at the signing ceremony, Huai underscored the fundamental importance of innovation to China as well as the central role of talent, especially the youth, in achieving it. He encouraged completion of the innovation support system for students as well as opening up more space for them to practice innovation. He also encouraged joint efforts by all parties—including from the supply, demand and investment sides—to create an environment that fosters student innovation.
Zhang said the competition provided a vast stage for students to innovate, start their own businesses, and fulfill their dreams of serving the country’s development. He said that Tianjin, as the host of the competition, is an innovative and progressive city characterized by openness and inclusiveness. It boasts comparative advantages such as a solid industrial foundation, favorable policies, convenient shipping services, and a relatively rich talent pool. The city continues to optimize its support measures and services to attract innovative talent from all walks of life, aiming to build and share a bright future together with innovators and entrepreneurs. He said he hoped the young participants would take advantage of the current competition to fully display their capabilities. He also expressed hope that entrepreneurs and investors would grow more confident and increase their engagement in Tianjin’s development.
During the event, Huai and Zhang visited an exhibition featuring results from the competition and from education in new engineering.
The China International College Students’ Innovation Competition was co-hosted this year by the Tianjin Municipal Government and twelve departments under the Ministry of Education, with Tianjin University organizing the event. A total of 17.09 million contestants from 5,296 universities and colleges in 151 countries and regions submitted 4.21 million projects for consideration by the competition. Among them, 1,260 projects were selected to participate in the finals at Tianjin University from Dec. 3–6. Of these, 423 projects received gold medals. Four Chinese teams and two international teams competed for the championship, with Peking University’s project, “Cross-Species Tumor Gene Therapy”, winning the 2023 championship.
