Announcement on the Launch of the 2025 "Maker World" Competition 

To accelerate the construction of a modern socialist international metropolis, vigorously attract high-level overseas talents and teams with high-tech projects to start businesses and innovate in Hangzhou, and build Hangzhou into a "preferred destination for high-level overseas talents to return to (come to) China for entrepreneurship", with the approval of the CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee and Hangzhou Municipal People's Government, the "Maker World · Towards the Future - 2025 Hangzhou Overseas High-Level Talents Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition" (hereinafter referred to as the "Competition") is specially held. The relevant matters are hereby announced as follows: 


1. Organizational Structure 
Host Units: CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee, Hangzhou Municipal People's Government 
Undertaking Units: Talent Work Office of the CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee, Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology 
Special Support Units: Shangcheng District, Gongshu District, Xihu District, Hangzhou High-tech Zone (Binjiang), Xiaoshan District, Yuhang District (Haichuang Park of Future Sci-Tech City), Linping District, Qiantang District, Fuyang District, Lin'an District (Qingshanhu Sci-Tech City) of Hangzhou 
Special Cooperation Units: Alibaba Group, Ant Group, Geely Group, etc. 


2. Competition Schedule 
The Competition will be officially launched in March 2025, with a global call for excellent innovation and entrepreneurship projects. After selection through audition, semi-finals, finals and the Special Competition for Western Revitalization, the final round will be held in late September during the "2025 Hangzhou International Talent Exchange and Project Cooperation Conference". During the Competition, the "Maker Rainbow Bridge" project docking activities will be held throughout the whole process. 

March 28 - May 31: Project registration 
June: Eligibility review 
July: Audition (document review) 
August: Semi-finals (online review) 
Late September: Finals (on-site review), Special Competition for "Western Revitalization" 
Late September: Grand Final (on-site review) 


3. Competition Format 
1. Track Setting 
The 2025 Competition consists of two sessions: the Overseas Returnees' Innovation and Entrepreneurship Project Session and the Foreigners' Innovation and Entrepreneurship Project Session (hereinafter referred to as the "Overseas Returnees Session" and "Foreigners Session"). 

The Overseas Returnees Session has 3 professional groups: 
Digital Economy (including professional directions such as hardware chips, information software, cloud computing and big data); 
Life and Health (including professional directions such as biotechnology, medical devices, pharmaceutical manufacturing); 
Advanced Industries (including professional directions such as high-end equipment, new materials, green energy, service industry and modern agriculture). 
The Foreigners Session does not distinguish between professional fields. 

This year's Competition also sets up 4 special competitions in artificial intelligence, brain-inspired intelligence, digital medicine and humanoid robots, which will be undertaken by key development zones and industrial development platforms in Hangzhou. 

2. Review Rules 
The evaluation of competition projects strictly follows the principles of openness, fairness, impartiality and selection of the best through competition. Projects are evaluated comprehensively based on technology and products, business model, industry and market, team, as well as the feasibility of the project landing in Hangzhou and the requirements of Hangzhou's future industrial development. 

3. Selection Rules 
Audition Stage: About 90 projects from the Overseas Returnees Session and 30 projects from the Foreigners Session, totaling about 120 projects, will be selected to enter the semi-finals. 
Semi-final Stage: From the 3 professional groups of the Overseas Returnees Session, the top 12 projects in each group (36 projects in total) will be selected to enter the finals; 12 projects from the Foreigners Session will be selected to enter the finals. 
Final Stage: Participants and team representatives of the 48  


4. Participants 
Participants of the Competition shall be overseas returnees and non-Chinese foreigners who intend to innovate and start businesses in Hangzhou. They shall have obtained a master's degree or above overseas, have overseas work experience in innovation and entrepreneurship, and possess innovative technologies or achievements with good market prospects. If participants have returned to (come to) China for development, they shall be under 50 years old and have returned to (come to) China for no more than 4 years. 

Those who meet any of the following conditions shall not be eligible as participants of this year's Competition: 

Having served as a legal person of an enterprise in Hangzhou, held shares in an enterprise in Hangzhou, or had social insurance payment records in an employer in Hangzhou before January 1, 2025; 
Having participated in the Competition twice or more (including twice). 


5. Participation Requirements 
Participants must be the main holders of the participating projects, and may declare no more than 3 core team members to assist them in completing tasks in each stage of the competition. The professional structure of participants and core team members shall be reasonable, relevant and complementary, and they shall be able to cooperate stably for a long time. Participants must attend all stages of the competition and the whole process of project landing; failure to attend any stage will be regarded as automatic withdrawal. After the project lands in Hangzhou to establish an enterprise and meets the application conditions for the funding of high-level overseas returnees' innovation and entrepreneurship projects in Hangzhou, it can enjoy preferential policies such as corresponding entrepreneurship funding and talent selection of the Competition. 

Each participant can only declare one participating project. 
After the participant and the participating project pass the registration review, no changes shall be made during the competition. 

The products and services proposed in the participating project can be inventions, creations or patented technologies that the participant has participated in or obtained authorization for, or a conceptual product or service that may be developed and realized. The project industry shall conform to the industrial development orientation of Hangzhou, belong to high-tech industries and strategic emerging industries, and the products and technologies shall have good advancement. Participants and their teams must have legal intellectual property rights or right to use (authorization) for their participating projects. 

On the basis of extensive market research and analysis, participants and their teams shall prepare a complete, specific and feasible business plan for launching the product or service to the market, which shall include the project's technology, market prospects, business strategy, capital needs, etc., and demonstrate the team members and future plan 


6. Competition Awards and Support Measures 
Competition Awards 
The Competition sets 1 first prize (RMB 200,000), 5 second prizes (RMB 100,000 each) and 10 third prizes (RMB 50,000 each); about 40 merit awards and 70 excellence awards. Projects entering the finals and semi-finals can receive a merit award of RMB 20,000 and an excellence award of RMB 10,000 respectively. Competition bonuses will be issued according to the final competition results, and awards of different stages will not be  (duplicated). 

Entrepreneurship Funding 
For participating projects that land and implement transformation in Hangzhou within one year after the competition and meet the landing and transformation conditions, they can obtain municipal-level funding for high-level overseas returnees' innovation and entrepreneurship projects in Hangzhou corresponding to the awards they have won without review. 
For projects that land and implement transformation in Hangzhou within two years after the competition and meet the landing and transformation conditions, they can apply for re-evaluation. If the project is confirmed to remain advanced after re-evaluation, it can obtain municipal-level funding corresponding to the awards won. 

The specific funding amounts are as follows: 

Projects entering the semi-finals: RMB 200,000 (corresponding to their ranking); 
Projects entering the finals and projects winning the 3rd to 5th places in each special competition: RMB 1,000,000; 
Projects winning the first, second and third prizes in the grand final: RMB 5,000,000, RMB 3,000,000 and RMB 2,000,000 respectively. 

The talent, project and industrial policies of the place where the landed project is registered shall be implemented in accordance with relevant regulations. 

For projects of the Special Competition for "Western Revitalization" that land in Fuyang District, Lin'an District, Tonglu County, Chun'an County or Jiande City of Hangzhou and complete the registration procedures, eligible projects can obtain corresponding municipal-level funding for high-level overseas returnees' innovation and entrepreneurship projects in Hangzhou according to the competition results: RMB 1,000,000 for the 1st to 3rd places, and RMB 500,000 for the 4th to 12th places. If the project finally chooses to land in other districts of Hangzhou, it will enjoy the corresponding funding of RMB 200,000 according to the semi-final ranking. 

Meanwhile, excellent projects entering the semi-finals that land and implement transformation in Hangzhou can obtain corresponding support policies of the place where the enterprise is registered without review. 

Preferential Policies 
Projects that land and implement transformation in Hangzhou can enjoy preferential policies such as rent subsidies, financing guarantees and loan interest subsidies in the park where they are located. 

Follow-up Services 
Conduct statistics, tracking and landing services for the landing of winning projects in Hangzhou; 
Implement various awards and policies of the Competition, and do a good job in assisting winning projects to apply for various project funding and other supporting policies; 
Assign entrepreneurial mentors to project teams and customize entrepreneurial training courses for competition participants to provide entrepreneurial guidance; 
Hold talent recruitment fairs, entrepreneurial salons and other activities for enterprises established by landed competition projects. 

Whole-process Project Docking 
The Competition Organizing Committee, together with all special support units and provincial and municipal venture capital associations, will organize leading venture capital institutions to carry out full-cycle and regular roadshows for participating projects through the "Maker Rainbow Bridge" activities. 


7. Notes 
The Competition does not charge any fees to participants and their teams. 
All materials of participants and their teams must be true and accurate; no plagiarism, misappropriation or other illegal acts are allowed. Once discovered, the eligibility to participate will be revoked or the bonus will be recovered. Participants shall bear all responsibilities for copyright disputes related to their participating projects. 

In case of force majeure affecting the normal progress of the Competition, the host has the right to adjust the competition schedule accordingly or terminate the competition. 

To promote full communication between participating projects and Hangzhou's innovation and entrepreneurship resources and promote the landing and development of participating projects in Hangzhou, the application materials of registered projects will be distributed to key development zones, platforms in Hangzhou, as well as relevant leading enterprises, equity investment institutions, scientific research institutions and other cooperation units of the Competition. The Competition may adopt the form of project roadshows, and the roadshow process will be open to the public. 

Participants and their teams participate in this competition entirely on a voluntary basis. If they have objections to the competition, they may contact and communicate with the Office of the Competition Organizing Committee in a timely manner or choose to withdraw from the competition, but they have no right to request changes to the competition rules or compensation for any expenses incurred due to participation. 

The Competition Organizing Committee reserves the right to further supplement the competition rules and has the final right of interpretation. Matters not covered herein will be notified separately.