On May 21, the 13th Chaoyang International Talent Entrepreneurship Conference (ITEC2025) officially kicked off. Focusing on the frontier fields of the digital economy, ITEC2025 aims to build an innovation model where "talented minds lead technological breakthroughs and technologies empower industrial leap in return", through competition innovation, scenario-driven approaches, and ecological reconstruction. The call for projects for the ITEC2025 Global Entrepreneurship Competition started on the same day and will last until August 31.
This year's competition features, for the first time, a three-dimensional competition system consisting of Talent Track, Industry Tracks, and Special Tracks, covering the whole-chain innovation ecosystem marked by early-stage discovery, accurate incubation, and industrial transformation. Specifically, the newly launched "Phoenix Youth Talent Innovation Competition" is aimed at, from a forward-looking perspective, identifying outstanding young talented minds and early-stage projects worldwide. Winners will gain direct access to the "Phoenix Plan" of Chaoyang District, and enjoy all-process services including incubation and training, funding policies, and industrial resources.
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scenario Special Track has been newly set up for this session, calling for innovative technological solutions from all over the world, centered around cutting-edged fields such as "AI + Metaverse" and "AI + Industry". In the meantime, demanded resources in AI scenarios of governmental institutions, central and state-owned companies, and industrial parks within Chaoyang are open to the participants. Through the government-enterprise collaboration, the special track is aimed at facilitating targeted matchmaking between technology providers and demanders, to ultimately create replicable industrial integration models powered by AI. The total prize pool of the competition exceeds CNY 50 million this year. The grand prize winner will be awarded CNY 5 million. The places for first, second, and third prizes will be increased to six, 10, and 16, respectively awarded with CNY 2 million, CNY 1.5 million, and CNY 1 million. There will be 30 winners for the new Talent Innovation Prize, with each to receive CNY 200,000 and gain direct access to the service system for outstanding young talented individuals of the "Phoenix Plan".
Additionally, Chaoyang will provide dedicated office spaces for the winning projects, with the largest area being 500 square meters, along with "butler-style" incubation services. Founders of the winning project will enjoy "1+8" exclusive benefits, including health management and transportation support.
Moreover, any organization or individual that has recommended winning projects for two consecutive years will be entitled "Chaoyang International Talent Attraction Partner" and rewarded CNY 100,000. The recommenders of the overseas winning projects may be rewarded as high as CNY 1 million for talent introduction, while the recommenders of the "Talent Innovation Prize" winners will be each rewarded CNY 20,000.
(Source: Beijing Business Today)
