Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

The opening ceremony of the Zhuhai division of the 2018 "Maker in Guangdong" Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition is held on April 13.

The second edition of the "Maker in Guangdong" Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition opened its Zhuhai division on April 13, featuring total prizes of 300,000 yuan ($47,774) and a wider range of service resources.

The opening ceremony was held at the Pullman Zhuhai hotel. More than 300 investors, startups, scholars and media representatives attended the event, discussing new fields of business and the keys to success.

The ceremony also marked the beginning of the national 2018 "Maker in China" Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition at the provincial level in Guangdong. The national competition was initiated by the Ministry of Industry & Information Technology to promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation in support of the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

For the second year running, 40 supporters of the two-month-long Zhuhai competition are providing a more professional stage for participants by ensuring quality services in training, incubating startups, and investment attraction. Supporters include the Zhuhai Service Center for SMEs, the Zhuhai Enterprise Service Platform (Government-Enterprise Cloud Platform), and the Entrepreneur's Training Camp of Peking University.

Certificates are awarded to organizations and enterprises supporting the competition.

Using the offered one-step service platform, contestants will be able to demonstrate their business ideas through roadshows, receive professional guidance and comments and network with potential investors.

Riding high on the nationwide promotion of entrepreneurship and innovation, the competition aims to tap Zhuhai's potential in this respect and increase its appeal to top talent and project resources. At this critical time for Zhuhai SMEs to upgrade and transform, there is an urgent need for new products, new technologies, and new businesses based on innovative models, according to a spokesperson.

Liang Hongyu, winner of last year's Zhuhai competition, shares how he is leading WarmCar, a company providing a new-energy ride-sharing rental platform, to success. [Photos courtesy WeChat official account (ID: zhxzsme)]

Zhuhai's Science, Technology, Industry, Trade & Information Technology Bureau is sponsoring the competition in conjunction with the Xiangzhou government under the guidance of the Economic & Information Commission of Guangdong Province and the Guangdong SME Bureau.