The opening ceremony of the 2017 Zhongguancun Cutting-edge Technology Innovation Contest was held in the Zhongguancun Exhibition Center in Beijing on Sept 19. The contest is designed to boost mass entrepreneurship and innovation.

The 2017 Zhongguancun Cutting-edge Technology Innovation Contest kicks off on Sept 19. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The contest prioritizes eight industries, including artificial intelligence, high-end chips, big data, health-care, new material and intelligent manufacturing, to encourage teams having pioneer worldwide technologies to start up business in Zhongguancun.

At the ceremony, Liu Da, vice president of the Zhongguancun Cutting-edge Technology Alliance, described the contest in three words: cutting-edge ---a contest for professional cutting-edge technologies, panels of experts, and service-oriented --- a multi-faceted service package for winners.

The winners will receive a resource package worth than 1 million yuan ($0.15 million), special access to their choice of Zhongguancun company technologies, and a green channel for Microsoft Accelerator.

The organizing committee is also joining with organizers to provide six services, including market matching with 100 Beijing State-owned enterprises and listed companies, capital services by Sequoia Capital, Zhen Fund and Zhongguancun Bank, and policy preferences by Zhongguancun and district governments.

Four companies---Hover Camera, SoundAI, Logos Data and Digi-Key – put on roadshows at the ceremony.

Ni Guangnan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Lee Kaifu, founder and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, gave keynote speeches. Zhao Huijun,vice director of the Zhongguancun Administrative Committee, and Guo Hong, president of Zhongguancun Bank, attended.

Lee Kaifu, founder and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, gives a keynote speech at the ceremony. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]