The Department of Science and Technology of Hunan Province announced on June 3 that the 2026 Hunan (International) Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition has been launched, aiming to establish a global innovation and entrepreneurship service platform.
With the theme "Hunan for the World, Innovation for the Future," the competition focuses on scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading, continuously improving the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem that "attracts talent, promotes innovation, and supports enterprises through the competition." The competition features four major categories: the Main Competition, the Disruptive Technology Innovation Competition, the "Malanshan Cup" Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition in Digital Intelligent Audio-Visual Technology ("Malanshan Cup" Global Competition for short), and specialized competitions, with tracks fully aligned with the development direction of Hunan's key industries.
Among these, the Main Competition includes five tracks: new-generation information technology, biomedicine, high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy (new energy vehicles) and energy conservation/environmental protection, and new materials. The Disruptive Technology Innovation Competition focuses on soliciting cutting-edge technology projects that are original, groundbreaking, and forward-looking. The "Malanshan Cup" Global Competition is based on empowering cultural industry innovation through technology, focusing on cutting-edge fields such as AI-generated Chinese-style audio-video content, intelligent audio-visual processing, immersive audio-visual technologies, and AI-empowered content creation in film/TV. It aims to attract global innovation and entrepreneurship projects and gather high-quality cultural and creative technology projects from home and abroad. The specialized competitions set up two dedicated contests: a vertical domain incubation competition and a non-ferrous metal green mining competition, catering to the development needs of niche industries.
The competition supports high-quality innovation and entrepreneurship projects through various means, including project funding and cash rewards. Specifically, the Main Competition offers up to one million CNY for each project. The "Malanshan Cup" Global Competition offers a prize of up to 500,000 CNY, and award-winning projects from outside the province or overseas that register and operate substantively in Hunan within two years may receive follow-up financial support no exceeding the corresponding award amount in the Main Competition. Registration for the competition opened on May 28, with the deadline set for June 30.
The competition simultaneously offers a comprehensive range of supporting services, including talent recognition, outcome commercialization and incubation, and investment and financing matchmaking. The heads of outstanding award-winning projects can be honored as Hunan Provincial Leading Talents in Technological Entrepreneurship and Hunan Provincial College Student Entrepreneurship Mentors, enjoying the benefits of provincial-level talent policies.