The 3rd China-Israel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest

In order to implement the ‘China-Israel Innovation Cooperation Plan (2018-2021)’, to create a better platform for China-Israel innovation cooperation under the guide of government, and to promote innovation collaboration and communication between the Chinese and Israeli enterprises, the Semi Final and Grand Final of the 3rd China-Israel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest 2019 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘CONTEST’) were jointly held by China Science and Technology Exchange Center, Israel Innovation Authority, Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Jiangsu Science and Technology Bureau, Changzhou Municipal People’s Government, Science and Technology Commission Shanghai Municipality, and Putuo District People’s Government on Dec 2-6th, 2019. Huang Wei, Vice Minister of Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ami Appelbaum, Chairman of Israel Innovation Authority jointly launched the Grand Final and delivered speeches. Li Qiang, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, Ying Yong, Mayor of Shanghai, Xu Qiang, Party Secretary of Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Eyal Propper, Consul General of Consulate General Of Israel In Shanghai, Yair Albin, Counsellor of Ministry of Economy and Industry Foreign Trade Administration of Embassy of Israel in China and other officials attended related events.

The CONTEST focused on three hot China-Israel cooperation fields - Life Science, Intelligence Technology and Cleantech. 19 outstanding Israeli innovative companies came to China for the Semi Final, Grand Final, exhibitions and B2B meetings. Semi Final of the 3rd China-Israel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest 2019 were held in Beijing and Changzhou on Dec 2-3. The top three companies in each field of the Semi Final were shortlisted for the Grand Final on 5th December in Shanghai. After fierce competition, Careature Medical, Atlantium Technologies, and Rephraser won the first, second, and the third prize respectively.

It is estimated that 1,200 innovative companies, incubators and organizations from China and Israel, totaling 1,700 people, attended the Semi Final and Grand Final of the CONTEST. 645 B2B meetings were successfully bridged, which generated 159 initial cooperation intentions between Chinese and Israeli companies. Superior projects, precise matchmaking and high-level event organization have been fully recognized by both Chinese and Israeli companies.

(Source: China Science and Technology Exchange Center)

The second China-Israel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest

From June 5th to 7th,2018, Ying Yong, Mayor of Shanghai, led a delegation to Israel. During the visit, Ying Yong stated that the cooperation between Shanghai and Israel is of great potential, with the tremendous amount of innovative enterprises in Israel and talents, scientific research, capital, and market resource in Shanghai. Two of the countries could have further cooperation in various fields in the hope that this could attract more Israeli R&D institutions to land in Shanghai with their scientific achievements, accelerate and implement their commercialization. Under the premise of respecting and protecting intellectual property rights, Shanghai is willing to further develop Sino Israel Technology Innovations (SITI) and to strive to formalize China-Israel Innovation Park and Industrial Park and frame SITI and joint laboratory.

The second China-Israel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest was a market-oriented, non-profit platform. Through screening, preliminary stage, Semi Final, and Grand Final, the contest aimed at selecting the most adequate technology from Israel to land in China. Out of 300 participating companies, 28 outstanding Israel companies in the fields of smart manufacturing, information and communication technology and life science made their way to Semi Final in Shanghai. Nine smart manufacturing companies brought wonderful roadshows, and the top three were presented trophies and rewards after fair judgements. In addition, in order to achieve the fundamental aspiration of China-Israel innovation cooperation, the contest would fully support these Israeli enterprises to realize commercialization in China by guaranteeing comprehensive project tracking services.

Semi Final of the second China-Israel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest in the smart manufacturing filed was hosted by China Science and Technology Exchange Center, Israel Innovation Authority, Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, and Shanghai Putuo People's Government; organized by Shanghai Science and Technology Exchange Center, Putuo District Science and Technology Committee, Taopu Smart City, and Sino Israel Technology Innovations (SITI); and supported by East China Normal University and the Consulate General of Israel in Shanghai. Wu Cheng, Deputy Director of China Science and Technology Exchange Center, Lu Min, Chief Engineer of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, Zhou Minhao, Governor of Shanghai Putuo People's Government, Avi Luvton, Executive Director of Asia-Pacific and Latin America Operations at Israel Innovation Authority, and Ariel Braverman, Deputy Consul General of Israel in Shanghai attended this event and delivered speeches.

The second China-Israel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest（screening and preliminary stage）

From December 12th to 18th, 2018, the second China-Israel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest (hereinafter referred to as ‘the contest’), hosted by China Science and Technology Exchange Center and Israel Innovation Authority, had its Semi Final in the fields of information and communication technology, smart manufacturing, and life science held respectively in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Changzhou. The Grand Final took place in Beijing.

As an important part of China Israel innovation cooperation, the contest was an essential activity after the 4th Meeting of the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation. The contest aimed at discovering the advantage of innovation resources, matching the needs of cooperation, and promoting practical cooperation between scientific and technological companies in the two countries. The contest received tremendous support from Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission, Shenzhen Association for Science and Technology, Shenzhen Futian People's Government, Shenzhen Pingshan People's Government, Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, Shanghai Putuo People's Government, Changzhou People's Government, and Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission.

In the screening and preliminary stage, nearly 300 Israel technology innovation companies participated in the contest, 50 of which made their way to preliminary stage and 28 of them stood out in the preliminary stage and were admitted into Semi Final and Grand Final in China.

In Semi Final and Grand Final, B2B meetings were held besides the contest which attracted over 600 representatives from local governments, companies and institutions. This provided plenty of opportunities of in-depth communication between Chinese and Israeli companies while selecting premium innovation projects and helped to achieve commercialization and rapid development of these Israeli technology.

The B2B meetings attracted a large number of well-known enterprises, investment and financial institutions and hi-tech parks from Shenzhen, Shanghai, Changzhou, Beijing and surrounding areas. Through comprehensive pre-match arrangements and careful on-site organization, the contest successfully realized around 500 B2B meetings, among which 150 cooperation intentions were reached to carry out technology collaboration, set up subsidiaries in China, introduce new technology, expand market channels. Furthermore, several Israeli projects have signed NDAs with Chinese companies and institutions.

In addition, China Israel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Contest Premium Project Investment Fund was launched jointly by Sino Israel Shanghai Asset Management Company, New Margins Ventures, Mingcheng Culture, Dingsheng Capital and Jiusong Shanhe Capital during the contest. The fund was established to promote commercialization and development of qualified projects, by providing sufficient funds to them.

Now, the contest has gradually become a high-quality, reliable platform for China Israel scientific and technological innovation cooperation. Based on the concept of ‘guided by government, initiated by enterprises, focused on demands, integrated resources’, the contest will continue to offer all round support for scientific and technological innovation companies and to promote the win-win cooperation in the two countries.