The first round face-off in the Zhuhai Division of the 4th "Maker in Guangdong" SME Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition began July 2 with 224 projects vying for total prize money of 600,000 yuan ($84,900).

Seventeen of the projects are from Hong Kong and Macao, while 48 are from Guangdong cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, and Jiangmen. The number of participants is up by 50 percent from last year and a record high.

2019 Zhuhai Division [File photo]

The increase is attributed to online and offline publicity by the organizing committee, which has worked with 22 partners, leading enterprises, industrial clusters and associations, venture capital institutions, incubators, universities, and media outlets. The committee held promotions in Xiangzhou and Jinwan districts, Hengqin New Area, the Gaolan Port Economic Zone, and National Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone (Tangjiawan), attracting 400 entrepreneurs and producers.

Their projects cover such strategic emerging industries as advanced manufacturing, new-generation information technology, biomedicine, green low-carbon, industrial internet, and new materials. Only the top 15 in the Enterprises and Makers groups, however, can advance to the next stage after material review.

The top 12 in the Zhuhai Division qualify for the provincial competition and will be prioritized in applying for provincial preferential policies. Moreover, the Bank of China will grant award-winning projects credit ranging from 1 million yuan ($141,500) to 10 million yuan ($1.4 million).

According to an executive of the event, many "old faces" have paid close attention to the competition and have brought new projects every year. The event witnessed the birth of many success stories, as makers find shortcomings in their projects and discover new ideas and business opportunities in exchanges with each other. This year, it will assist in the innovation, transformation, and upgrade of SMEs and help them recover from negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The provincial competition is hosted by departments of Industry & Information Technology and Finance of Guangdong Province. They will facilitate industrialization and settlement of outstanding entrepreneurship projects and their cooperation with leading enterprises, innovation and entrepreneurship bases, and financial institutions.