ENTREPRENEURS in Shenzhen were granted the 2007 Mayor’s Award, the highest award for technological innovation in the city, on Friday.
The four winners were Xu Shaochun from Kingdee International Software Group Co. Ltd., Guo Deying from Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Chen Zhilie from EVOC Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. and Deng Guoshun from Netac Technology Co. Ltd. Xu, Guo and Chen won the awards in the category for entrepreneurs while Deng won the award in the category for elites in the science and technology industry.
The four recipients, all founders of their respective companies, were also each given a 1-million-yuan (US$142,857) cash award at a ceremony Friday.
A total of 81 projects, including the CDMA softswitch project from Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., were granted the Science and Technology Innovation Awards and 146 enterprises, including Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co. Ltd., were designated as the first batch of leading enterprises in the city’s efforts to promote independent innovation.
The 81 awarded projects covered industries ranging from electronics and telecommunications to biomedicine and new materials. The projects claimed 562 independent intellectual property rights, 1.5 times more than the number in 2006.
The number of applications for the 2007 Science and Technology Innovation Awards was the second-highest since 2001 and slightly fewer than the number in 2006. More than 30 percent of the candidate projects were new ones, an indication that the enthusiasm of more professionals in the technology industry had been aroused, Saturday’s Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.
Friday’s ceremony was followed by an exhibition unveiled by the city’s Party chief Liu Yupu and Mayor Xu Zongheng. The exhibition chronicles the city’s achievements in the field of technological innovation over the past 30 years. (Wang Yuanyuan)