The 2025 Pudong New Area "Pearl Cup" Entrepreneurship Competition is now open for applications.

This year's competition further improves its "evaluation through competition" mechanism and strengthens its role as a gateway to the Pearl Talent Plan — a talent recruitment initiative undertaken by Pudong to attract top-tier professionals in science, technology and innovation.

As one of the primary selection channels for the Pearl Talent Plan, last year's inaugural competition attracted 619 startup projects from China and abroad, with 72 projects receiving awards.

Among them, 17 first-and second-prize winners who established their ventures in Pudong have already been recommended for recognition as either Pearl Leading Talent (entrepreneurship category) or Pearl Elite Talent (entrepreneurship category).

At the launch ceremony, Pudong also announced a new startup incubation base, which will offer 20,000 to 40,000 square meters of flexible innovation space to support early-stage ventures.

Applications for the 2025 competition must be submitted by August 15.

 

Eligibility

• Applicants should generally hold a bachelor's degree or higher from a well-known university in China or abroad.
• Applicants should have entrepreneurial experience or have held a formal position at a top university, research institute, or well-known company.
• Applicants must be the founder of a company (either the largest shareholder or largest individual shareholder) or the person in charge of the startup project. Each person may submit only one project.
• In principle, the participating project should not yet be registered as a company. If a project is already registered, its company must have been established after Jan 1, 2022, and the project must belong to this company rather than its parent company, branch, subsidiary, or any affiliated organization.
• Applicants and their project companies must not have been selected for the Pearl Summit Talent or Pearl Leading Talent (entrepreneurship category) programs under Pudong's Pearl Talent Plan, nor have won a first or second prize or the Most Promising Returnee Startup Team Award in the 2024 Pudong New Area Pearl Cup Entrepreneurship Competition.

 

Schedule

Late June to mid-August 2025

• Project submission

Mid-August to early September 2025

• Preliminary round

Mid-September to mid-October 2025

• Semifinal round

Mid-October to mid-November 2025

• Final round

Early December 2025

• Awards ceremony

 

Awards

First prize

• Selection for Pudong's Pearl Leading Talent (entrepreneurship category) program
• One-time personal grant of 1 million yuan ($140,000) and team award of 1.5 million yuan
• Up to 10 million yuan in intended investment support
• Up to 3 million yuan in startup subsidies from Zhangjiang Science City
• For youth-led science and technology innovation projects: Access to startup space with rent as low as 1 yuan per square meter per day

Second prize

• Selection for Pudong's Pearl Elite Talent (entrepreneurship category) program
• One-time personal grant of 500,000 yuan
• Up to 5 million yuan in intended investment support
• Up to 3 million yuan in startup subsidies from Zhangjiang Science City
• For youth-led science and technology innovation projects: Access to startup space with rent as low as 1 yuan per square meter per day

Most Promising Returnee Startup Team Award

• One-time grant of 400,000 yuan
• Up to 2 million yuan in intended investment support
• Up to 3 million yuan in startup subsidies from Zhangjiang Science City
• For youth-led science and technology innovation projects: Access to startup space with rent as low as 1 yuan per square meter per day

Finalist award

• Up to 2 million yuan in intended investment support
• For youth-led science and technology innovation projects: Access to startup space with rent as low as 1 yuan per square meter per day

Talent scout award

• Invitation to join Pudong's "Global Talent Partnership Program"
• A reward of 100,000 to 1 million yuan for successfully bringing in talent or projects

Notes:

• Winners must start their position within two years to receive the awards.
• Semifinalists can stay at the Pudong International Talent Station for free for up to 7 days during the semifinal round.
• Finalists can stay at the Pudong International Talent Station for free for up to 14 days during the final round.

 

Application

For more details, please visit the official website of the Pudong New Area Pearl Cup Entrepreneurship Competition. And click here or scan the QR code below to apply.

 

Contacts

(Weekdays, Monday to Friday, 9 am–5:30 pm)

Wei

Tel: 137-6401-2668

Wang

Tel: 138-1780-1909

Technical support: Yu

Tel: 176-0021-1855

 

Source: Official website of the Pudong New Area "Pearl Cup" Entrepreneurship Competition