The “International Innovation Talent Shenzhen (Nanshan) Tour” event, a key component of the 9th China (Shenzhen) Innovation and Entrepreneurship International Competition International Division, concluded on Nov. 1. The event served as a bridge, connecting nearly 160 top international contestants with Shenzhen’s dynamic innovation ecosystem. 

The tour was hosted by the Shenzhen Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, and co-organized by the Nanshan District Human Resources Bureau, and the Nanshan District Science, Technology and Innovation Bureau. 

With Tencent WeStart (Shenzhen) overseeing operations, the tour represented a deep extension of the main competition. The participating contestants were selected from nearly 3,000 projects across 11 global competition divisions.

Notably, nearly 50% of them held doctoral degrees, and they collectively possessed over 700 patents, spanning seven strategic and emerging industries including new-generation electronic information and biomedicine.

During the day, participants split into groups to visit 10 distinctive sites across Nanshan District. Through seminars and interactive sessions, they gained a comprehensive experience of the district’s full-chain innovation ecosystem, from technology origins to market application.

The morning itinerary included visits to the Tencent Binhai Building’s exhibition hall, the Huawei HarmonyOS Exhibition Hall, and Tencent WeStart (Shenzhen), where contestants engaged in face-to-face discussions with startup mentors. Many took the opportunity to express their interest in establishing operations in Shenzhen by filling out landing intention forms.

The afternoon featured visits to OFC+ Accelerator and Digital China International Innovation Center. At the Talent Scout House, participants experienced the city’s ethos of “Shenzhen Cherishing Talent, Awaiting Your Arrival,” while in Shekou, they felt the pulse of the “Time is Money, Efficiency is Life” spirit that propelled Shenzhen’s early development. A stop at the INNO100, a global innovation flagship store, allowed them to engage with cutting-edge innovative products from around the world.

The networking banquet further ignited collaborative sparks through open roadshows and targeted matchmaking sessions. The event attracted renowned investors, startup mentors, corporate representatives, and government officials. Discussions were strategically organized into zones based on industry tags, facilitating precise exchanges across the seven key industrial sectors represented by the participants.