China-U.S. Makers Co-create the Future

　　On June 19, the 10th-anniversary celebration of the “Chunhui Cup” China Overseas Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition and the launch ceremony of the 2015 U.S.–China Young Makers Competition were held in Pittsburgh, USA. Representatives from academia and the business community in both China and the United States unanimously agreed that young entrepreneurs and makers in the two countries are riding a golden wave and are emerging as a new highlight of people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and the United States. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich stated: “China has already become one of the world’s innovation hubs, and we are thrilled to contribute to the maker movement and cultural exchanges among young people in both China and the United States. We hope to leverage the company’s cutting-edge technologies, global perspective, and international resources to support innovation and to build bridges for international exchange and collaboration among young innovators from both countries.”

　　As a key ancillary event to the High-Level Consultations on China-U.S. People-to-People Exchanges, this year’s China-U.S. Young Makers Competition is themed “Co-Creating the Future.” It focuses on sustainable development areas such as community engagement, education, health, transportation, environmental protection, and energy, leveraging innovative design concepts and cutting-edge technologies to develop entirely new products or applications that deliver both industrial and social value. According to the competition schedule, the winning teams from each regional qualifier in China and the United States will converge in China in mid-August this year for the final round of the competition.

　　Over the past decade, the “Chunhui Cup” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition has selected a total of 1,654 innovation and entrepreneurship projects led by overseas-educated professionals, with more than 300 of these projects now having been established and incubated in China, spanning such fields as electronic information, biopharmaceuticals, new materials, and new energy. Among the shortlisted projects from the previous nine editions of the competition, those submitted by overseas-educated professionals from the United States accounted for 41.5%; this year also marked the inaugural establishment of a North American regional division.

　　Pittsburgh was once a renowned industrial city in the United States, famously known as the “Steel City.” However, the rapid expansion of industry also brought with it thick clouds of smoke and dust. As the steel industry declined, Pittsburgh’s economic vitality waned for a time. Local residents told reporters that today, thanks to its thriving financial sector, healthcare industry, and manufacturing base, Pittsburgh—once part of America’s “Rust Belt”—has successfully transformed into a nationally recognized hub for innovation and entrepreneurship, reaping both prosperity and environmental sustainability. The launch ceremony for this year’s China–U.S. Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program was held here, lending the event a particularly special significance.

　　Lei Bao, an MBA student at Bridgeport University in the United States and a winner of the 9th “Chunhui Cup” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, will soon see her award-winning project take root in Nanjing. Through her participation in the “Chunhui Cup,” Lei has come to deeply appreciate that China is currently in a golden age for entrepreneurship, particularly thanks to the government’s robust policy support for mass entrepreneurship and innovation. She notes that cooperation between China and the United States is evolving from the economic sphere into the realm of innovation and creativity, with ample opportunities for mutual learning and cross-fertilization. China can draw on the U.S.’s experience in cultivating entrepreneurs across society, while the American public, in turn, can gain a closer understanding of Chinese capabilities in innovation and entrepreneurship. Take the mobile internet as an example: Chinese entrepreneurs are far more confident in this field, to the point where the U.S. now has much to learn from China—thereby further fostering fair competition and equal dialogue between the two countries.

　　Nathan Smirlyak, a biomedical engineer at the University of Pittsburgh and a representative of young American makers, said in an interview with this newspaper that although the United States and China differ in their historical cultures and stages of development, these differences also present opportunities for mutual complementarity and cooperation. The convergence of ideas between young people from the two countries in innovation and entrepreneurship will help deepen mutual understanding and cultivate a new generation of youth who are both innovative and globally minded. He is fully confident that this collaborative momentum will have a positive and profound impact on the next generation in both countries. More importantly, by joining forces in cutting-edge fields such as new energy, the United States and China can also provide innovative solutions to the common challenges facing nations around the world.