Registration Opens Globally for the 11th China·Yantai Elite Entrepreneurship Competition for Domestic and Overseas Talents

Source: Dazhong Daily  Reporter: Yang Xiuping

On the morning of April 22, the Information Office of the Yantai Municipal Government held a press conference to announce the launch of the 11th China·Yantai Elite Entrepreneurship Competition for Domestic and Overseas Talents. Themed "Gathering Wisdom in Yantai, Creating a Win-Win Future," this year's competition is openly soliciting outstanding entrepreneurial projects and enterprises from around the world from now until June 15. It aims to inject surging innovative momentum into Yantai's green, low-carbon, and high-quality development.

As Yantai's flagship brand event for attracting top talent and investment, the Elite Entrepreneurship Competition has been held for ten consecutive sessions. It has attracted over 3,300 high-level talent entrepreneurial projects from more than 30 countries and regions, successfully led to the implementation of over 230 high-quality projects, and driven investments totaling 2.46 billion yuan. Furthermore, 66 participants have been selected for national, provincial, and municipal key talent programs, realizing a chain reaction of "introducing one talent, driving one team, and strengthening one industry."

This year's competition features two main categories: the Entrepreneurship Enterprise Category and the Entrepreneurship Project Category. The Entrepreneurship Project Category precisely targets Yantai's industrial frontiers, setting up five industry tracks: "Artificial Intelligence," "Aerospace," "Biomedicine & Medical Devices," "Optoelectronics," and "Intelligent Manufacturing & Comprehensive." The competition runs from April through August. From today, talents from home and abroad can log onto the official competition registration platform to sign up their desired category and track.

Regarding entry requirements, the competition is open to technology-based enterprises already registered and established within the administrative region of Yantai, or entrepreneurial enterprise talents who intend to relocate their newly established technology-based enterprises to Yantai, as well as entrepreneurial project talents who intend to bring projects, technology, and capital to start businesses in Yantai. The main focus of the participating projects and enterprises must fall within the development fields of Yantai's "9+N" industries or the 16 key industrial chains, and their technological achievements must reach a domestically leading level.

In terms of supportive policies, this year's competition is highly sincere and establishes a full-lifecycle support system from landing to growth. The Entrepreneurship Enterprise Category will select around 10 enterprises with the greatest growth potential, awarding the winning talents the title of "Double Hundred Plan" Industrial Leading Talent (Entrepreneurship Enterprise Category) and providing comprehensive financial support of up to 6 million yuan over 5 years. The Entrepreneurship Project Category will recognize up to 30 winning projects, with each receiving a prize of 30,000 yuan. Around 20 additional outstanding projects will be selected and awarded the title of "Double Hundred Plan" Industrial Leading Talent (Entrepreneurship Cultivation Category), with comprehensive financial support of up to 500,000 yuan.

Notably, the competition has introduced an innovative "Exemption from Evaluation, Direct Access" mechanism: entrepreneurial enterprises that have received cumulative market capital financing of over 10 million yuan in the past three years, or projects that have won awards listed in the Yantai Entrepreneurship Competition's whitelist, can directly enjoy the corresponding policy support after passing an on-site inspection, without undergoing repeated competition evaluations.

In terms of process, the competition emphasizes "pragmatism" and "precision." A "Landing Intention Collection" phase has been added before the preliminary round, and a "Landing and Investment Matchmaking" phase has been arranged prior to the finals. These phases organize deep docking sessions for projects with various districts and cities of Yantai, industrial parks, and industrial funds. A select number of key industrial parks have been designated as primary hubs to support these ventures, offering complete industrial systems, excellent facilities, and superior policies to ensure long-term, all-encompassing service and security for entrepreneurial enterprises and projects.