4th CIEIC Innovation Competition – Invitation to participate in the international competition

29 September 2020 — Cologne, Germany / online*

The CIEIC is an international innovation competition, which is held by the city government of Shenzhen in cooperation with the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission. Shenzhen is one of the most innovative and dynamic cities in China and is known as the “Silicon Valley” of the People’s Republic of China. About 180 of the 500 international top companies in China established their head offices in Shenzhen. To promote German and European economic relationship with China further, the German-Chinese Business Association (DCW) organizes the European preselection of the innovation competition for the city of Shenzhen. The preliminary decision will be held on 29 September 2020 in Germany and worldwide in different cities.

Who can participate in the competition? Individuals, research groups or companies – including start-ups – are invited with an innovative idea or a future-oriented concept for the following sectors:

The top twenty projects (four per industries) will take part in the preselection competition in Cologne. The winners of the preliminary decision are going to participate in the competition finals, which will take place in Shenzhen. 

Without limitation of participants' nationality, this competition is open to all overseas innovation and entrepreneurship projects. Bonus of this competition totally reaches RMB 9.83 million, which includes individual bonus up to RMB1.4 million (Government subsidies and venture capital investments are not included). A venture capital pool of RMB 25 billion has been set up by more than 40 investment institutions, which helps support outstanding projects. Equal opportunities of social investment are going to be distributed via the platform to all participating projects.

The event will take place in Cologne, Germany and online* on 29 September 2020.

Deadline for registration: 15 September 2020

For more information please visit the official website of the competition: www.itcsz.cn

Direct link to enter the competition of the “Germany Division”

Information on the competition as PDF

To introduce your project, please create an account first under “sign up”. After you created an account you can follow the registration process. You can introduce your idea or project in Chinese or in English. You can find more information about the competition in the Handbook and in the Competition Manual.

We will inform you whether you are admitted to the preliminary round as soon as possible. After the preliminary round in Cologne, a total of ten teams will have the opportunity to compete in the final in Shenzhen. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at any time:

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Phone: +49 221 120 370

*) Due to the corona pandemic, the preliminary round will be held in Cologne only with a limited number of participants. If you have won and are invited to the preliminary round, you can decide whether you would like to present your project on site in Cologne or online. The finals will also take place online and entry to China will not be necessary.

Important information: The organizer of the innovation competition is the Organization Committee of 4th China (Shenzhen) Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition (CIEIC). The organizer of the preliminay in Germany is D C W GmbH on behalf of the organizer of the innovation competition. All rights and obligations of the competition are responsible by the city government of Shenzhen. The contractual partner of the participating competitors is exclusively the city government of Shenzhen. Both D C W GmbH and Deutsch-Chinesische Wirtschaftsvereinigung e.V. are not liable of non-compliance with the rights and obligations of the organizer in the event, such as non-payment of the prize money, and refuse any liability for damages or consequential damages caused by participation in the event. The processing of personal data for the purpose of participation in the innovation competition is carried out by the organizer of the innovation competition, the Organization Committee of 4th China (Shenzhen) Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition (CIEIC) (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). D C W GmbH processes the collected personal data on behalf of the organizer of the innovation competition for the purpose of carrying out the preliminary round of the innovation competition in Germany. By participating in the innovation competition, you agree that the personal data you provide will be processed by the organizer of the innovation competition and D C W GmbH for the aforementioned purposes. The conditions of participation are described in the competition manual. The preliminary in Germany is part of the final competition in Shenzhen. The amount of prizes for the preliminary and final competition is defined in the competition manual (according to chapter “Awards and Supporting Policies”, (I) Cash Prices). In order to win the prize money, it is not necessary to found a company in Shenzhen, but in this case, additional government subsidies will be granted. The preliminary will take place in Cologne and online, the final competition will be held in Shenzhen prospectively. We would like to pay your attention to the fact that photo and film recordings are made during the events. Insofar as your personal rights are affected by the photo and film recordings, you grant us the right to use the recordings without any restriction on location and time. D C W GmbH reserves the right to cancel the event at any time without giving any reasons. Claims for damages are excluded. German law applies exclusively. Place of jurisdiction is Cologne.