GBCA was proud to host the 17th “Chunhui Cup” Global Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition—Melbourne Qualification Finals and Awards Ceremony online on 28th July. Ten entrepreneurship teams have presented their proposals in the competition. The topics covered cultural creativity, biomedical/electronic information, new materials, high-efficiency energy saving, modern services and other major innovation fields. Ten prizes, including the “Cloud Innovation” special award, were given to these teams.

We were honoured to have Mr Chunming Guo, Education Counsellor of the Chinese Consulate-General in Melbourne and Ms Rong Shen, Suzhou government representative in China, to address the welcoming and opening remarks.

A judging panel composed of outstanding experts from academia, industry and investors, chaired by Prof.Qinglong Han, Vice-Chancellor and Distinguished Professor of the Swinburne University of Technology, made comments and feedback on the individual project after its roadshow during the competition.

The experts of the judging panel include: Professor Yaolin Wang, Director, Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, The University of Melbourne; Dr Zhu Hongjian, Head of Cancer Signalling Research Laboratory in Department of Surgery, The University of Melbourne; Professor Huanting Wang, ARC Australian Laureate Fellow, Fellow of The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, Director of the ARC Research Hub for Energy-efficient Separation, Monash University; Professor Xiang Yang, Dean, Digital Research, Swinburne University of Technology; Professor Kefei Zhang, Distinguished Professor of China University of Mining and Technology, and Honorary Professor of RMIT University; Professor Hua Wang, University of Victoria; Mr  Songyu Gao, Founder and CEO of BMYG Financial Investment Group; Ms. Audrey Zheng, State Manager, Bank of China Melbourne Branch; Mr. Yuansheng Pan, General Manager, China Southern Airlines  (Melbourne office); Mr. Wayne Mo, CEO of AL Capital.

Counsellor Guo encouraged the students to remain innovative. He hopes these excellent projects will create a more efficient, sustainable, convenient, and beautiful world.

Prof.Han emphasised the outstanding quality of the projects. The judging panels all agreed that numerous cutting-edge ideas are highly practical and can be implemented immediately.

Since its inception in 2006, the Chunhui Cup has become one of China’s most prestigious student innovation and entrepreneurship competitions, with qualifiers in over 30 countries. Since 2018, GBCA has partnered with the Chinese Consulate-General in Melbourne to host the annual Chunhui Cup Melbourne qualifier and organise pre-match counselling, to assist participants in making local connections, boosting the domestic ecosystem in Victoria, and establishing productive business links between Victoria and China.

The 17th Chunhui Cup Melbourne qualifier has received 18 entrepreneurship proposals from the students in the University of Melbourne, Monash University, RMIT University, Deakin University, Swinburn University of Technology and Victoria University. The entire participating team hails from Australia, Europe, North America, and Asia; over 90% of the team members hold either a doctorate or a master’s degree. Internationalisation, high education, cutting-edge technology, and innovation have become essential labels.