Primanex Wins Excellence Prize in 8th China Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition
November 1, 2019, Qingdao
The finals of the 8th China Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition for Electronics & Information group were held at Hengfeng-Haiyue International Hotel, Bao-An District, Shenzhen, from October 29th to 31st, 2019. Primanex as one of the four winners from the qualifying competition in Growth group in Qingdao Division, is the first time to participate, entered top 24 in the finals for the Growth group, scored the best among the four and won the Excellence Prize. Another winner in Start-up group from Qingdao Division, Corelink Technology, also won the Excellence Prize, and entered top 9 in the finals for the Start-up group.
A total of 30,287 companies participated in the nation wide competition, among which nearly 7500 are in Electronics & Information group, an increase of more than 400 over previous year, making it the largest one among the total six groups. After tough qualifying competition, finally 289 winners out of ~7500 participants from all 37 local divisions were lucky enough to enter the Shenzhen finals. They were divided into two groups, 219 in Growth group and further divided into 8 sub-groups, 70 in Start-up group and further divided into 3 sub-groups. Top 11 in each Growth sub-group would win the Excellence Prize, and top 2 would enter the final; while top 9 in each Start-up sub-group would win the Excellence Prize, and top 2 would enter the final. The Deputy Director of the National Torch High Technology Industry Development Center, Mr. ZHANG Mu, the Deputy Director of Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission, Mr. HUANG Zhen, Member of the Standing Committee of Bao-An District, Mr. XUE Qiang, Vice President of Bao-An District, Mr. LOU Yanfeng, and more than 500 people including investors, entrepreneurs, reporters, and competition participants showed up in the opening ceremony.
There were >10,000 hi-tech companies, counting 1/3 of all participants. The Electronics & Information group accounts for the highest percentage within the >10,000 attendees among all six major industry groups, and is definitely the mainstay of hi-tech companies participating in this 8th competition. Statistically speaking, the finals for Electronics & Information group became a gathering of hard-core technologies. The 289 winners represent technologies such as 5G, Internet of Things, Smart Chips, AR/VR, intelligent hardware, communications, big data and clouds etc., and are serving industry, agriculture, health care, education, security, transportation and culture areas. By random ballot, Primanex was listed in Growth sub-group 7 which had 27 members, and would be the 23rd within the sub-group to present "Magneto-Optics Switch-a Technology for Fast Switching Time /Space" on October 30th.
The 4 players in Growth group and 1 in Start-up group from Qingdao Division were preliminarily screened from nearly 500 players in two rounds of qualifying competitions. Although Qingdao City is located inside Shandong Province, Qingdao is a Special Zone that reports directly to Beijing. Hence due to this historical arrangement, Qingdao Division is independent of Shandong which had 10 in Growth group and 2 in Start-up group for this national finals. Every participant would have 8 minutes to present their projects in terms of technology, market, business model, team of talents, financial data and funding demands; another 7 minutes would then be allocated for the review committee and participant to ask /and answer questions. All participants and their assistants waited in order outside the competition room with anxieties and tensions, seemingly freezing the air. Some were already complaining about the strangling air in the crowded corridor.
After a full day of fierce and exhausting competition from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM, 289 teams successfully completed the semi-finals on October 30th. Primanex ranked third in Growth sub-group 7, lost the opportunity to enter final by a tiny 0.05 point. QDYesh Optoelectronics ranked 11th in Growth sub-group 6, while Corelink Technology ranked third in Start-up sub-group 3. Hence, 3 out of the 5 Qingdao teams won the Excellence Prize, while 4 of the 12 teams from Shandong Division won the Excellence Prize too. Shandong Haitian Intelligent Engineering Co., Ltd. ranked third in their own sub-group.
The results indeed show the gap between Qingdao /Shandong and first-tier cities. Among the 289 players from nation wide, there were only 17 from Qingdao and Shandong, of which 7 won Excellence Prize, while there were 59 from Shanghai only, already 3 times more than that of Shandong and Qingdao, and 23 of which won the Excellence Prize. There was none from either Shandong or Qingdao entering the final, while 7 Shanghai teams advanced to the final. Both are relatively developed coastal areas in China, Shandong /Qingdao however handed over an unsatisfactory result. During the final competition on October 31st, Saisi Technology from Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province won the national championship in Growth group with their High-Precision Timing Chip, while Adaps Photonics from Shenzhen won the national championship in Start-up group with their Single Photon Detector Chip.
