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THE fourth edition of the France Alumni China Entrepreneurship Award, initiated by the French Embassy in China in 2014 aiming to support Chinese entrepreneurs who have studied in France, was launched at HAX Accelerator in Huaqiangbei, Futian District, on Saturday.

“The entrepreneurship award this year is different from the previous editions. For the previous three editions, we awarded the prize to some innovation programs. This year, the prize will be awarded to a company only 3 months to 3 years old,” said Abdo Malac, an assistant scientific adviser in charge of innovation at the French Embassy in Beijing.

Malac added that they would choose a talented entrepreneur from among the members of France Alumni China for the award. Candidates can submit their materials to the website appointed by Le Prix de l’Entrepreneuriat France Alumni Chine (PEFA), the French name of the award, until Sept. 22.

Bertrand Furno, consul-general of France in Guangzhou, delivers a speech at the fourth edition of the France Alumni China Entrepreneurship Award launching ceremony at HAX Accelerator in Huaqiangbei, Futian District, on Saturday.

“France Alumni China, established by the French Embassy in China back in 2008, is an organization formed by Chinese students who have received higher education in France. Currently it has over 10,000 members from across 16 cities in China. It’s a good platform for the alumni,” said Bertrand Furno, consul-general of France in Guangzhou.

Furno said the number of startup companies that were established in China in the first quarter of 2017 reached over 1 million and starting a business has proved to be the preferred choice for the new generation of young people with high academic qualifications.

“Shenzhen, which is the center of this new trend and enjoys the reputation as a ‘city of innovation,’ is of course the best choice for us to launch the France Alumni China Entrepreneurship Award,” said Furno.

“It takes courage to come to Shenzhen. This city was created by a group of courageous people,” said Wen Zhongmeng, who won the 2016 edition of the award with his “Modular collaborative robots” project. Wen, an industrial automation major, went to France in 2010 to study for his master’s and doctoral degrees.

Benjamin Joffe, a partner with HAX Accelerator, which is one of the most active investors in early-stage hardware startups in the world, gives a presentation at the fourth edition of the France Alumni China Entrepreneurship Award launching ceremony at HAX Accelerator in Huaqiangbei, Futian District, on Saturday.

“The reason we are in Shenzhen is because Shenzhen is the best place to transform your ideas for electronic products into reality. We’d like to say that the silicon has moved out of Silicon Valley because now it’s in Shenzhen,” said Benjamin Joffe, a partner with HAX Accelerator, which is one of the most active investors in early-stage hardware startups in the world.

Joffe explained that the world’s best startups want to access the best resources in the world. “You can invent something anywhere in the world. But to transform your idea into reality, if you are doing electronics, China, and Shenzhen especially, is the best place in the world,” he said.