In 2020, a very successful start-up competition in Singapore was organised by Cloudbae, a subsidiary of The Alibaba Group, and 2B Compass in Singapore. That competition saw three startup signing Memorandum of Understanding with Cloudbae. That gave the startup access to all network and business connections while incubating in Nanning.

In 2021, the 4th China-Asean New Smart City Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition is back again. It aims to bring together the best smart city innovative ideas from startups across China and the Asean countries. It also strives to offer the best smart city Startups access to highly strategic networks, turn ideas into sought-after solutions, and opportunities to break into new markets

This year, Business China has come on board as a strategic partner. It will connect the best of their entrepreneurial youth with their vision set in China to participate in this competition.

The promising statement of this competition is to focus on solving related issues linked to the New Smart City concept like Education, Transport, Waste Management, Health, and Environment.

Important Dates:

• Held 100% virtual this year, the launch of this competition will be on 28 June 2021, 10:00am via live from social media platforms. All start-ups are welcomed to submit their application for the competition via the website – https://www.chinaaseanstartup.com. The closing date will be on 30th July 2021
• The ASEAN Division Preliminaries will be held from 19-20 August 2021. The top 16 teams will be selected for the China Grand Finals, happening in Nanning from 6-7 Sep 2021. The China Grand Finals will be televised live from Nanning, Guang Xi, China to 15 millions of television viewers.
• The China-ASEAN Expo will also be organised in Nanning, China during the same week (6-10 Sep 2021) . It is expected to be attended by China’s top leaders.

This competition is the brainchild of the Nanning Municipal D&R Commission, and Nanning Foreign Affairs Office Government. It is organized by CloudBae, the 2B compass Pte. Ltd, *SCAPE Co. Ltd Singapore, and Singapore University of Social Sciences.

“We see ourselves as the rainmaker for Start-ups who wants to leverage Nanning City as the Start-up Gateway into China. This competition will open the right doors. ” – Caleb Low, founder of 2B Compass

“Through partnership with CloudBae and regional competition like China-Asean New Smart City Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition 2021, *SCAPE hopes to promote innovation and creativity amongst youths while providing an avenue for Asia-ready regional exposure.” – Ivy Lim, Executive Director, *SCAPE.

“The competition offers valuable resources for students to kickstart their venture or expand their startup into the region. Working closely with our partners in ASEAN and China, we hope to provide the opportunity for international networking and hone students’ skills to be world-ready.” – Ellen Goel, Head of Entrepreneurship Programme, Singapore University of Social Sciences

Two categories of the Competition.

• Comprehensive Startup Category
  • For established startups working on smart city solutions with MVP and traction
• Open Startup Category
  • For students and teams with early-stage smart city ideas. No MVP is required.

China-ASEAN Startup Competition Statistics since 2018

• 257 Proposals received.
• 28 Grand Finalists
• 5 Successfully entered China

About Cloudbae:

• Cloudbae is a big data industry company established with a “light asset, platform, mixed ownership” approach. Shareholder companies such as Guangxi Group Co., Ltd., Nanning Rail Transit Group, and Alibaba Cloud’s DT Dreams joined hands to commit to the construction and operation of a smart Nanning city, to promote the interconnection and sharing of information among cities in Guangxi, and to strengthen cooperation with cities in ASEAN countries To build the Digital Silk Road together.
• The new smart city is an important part of the construction of the China-ASEAN Information Port and an important platform for China and ASEAN countries to jointly build the “Digital Silk Road”. Cloud Baby Big Data Industry Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Cloud Baby”) was established on March 28, 2017.

About Nanning Government:

• The capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
• Population of 7.7m
• The venue of the annual China-ASEAN Expo
• The core city of Beibu Gulf Economic Zone
• The gateway city of China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative
• Nanning is setting the Smart City benchmark in China & ASEAN to attract Internet enterprises, promote the development of new industrial agglomeration, upgrade traditional industries, and foster new functions of industrial development

About the 2B compass Pte Ltd:

the 2B compass helps Sales & Business leaders connect better and influence more, so that they can be a #GreaterSignificance to society. We believe everyone who has the ability to impact lives deserves the chance to get their message heard.

Technology and Social Media has connected the world at a pace never seen before. However, as the world became more connected, people and customers also started becoming socially disconnected. As a result, we strive to Re-think, Re-strategise and Re-Plan how businesses communicate with their audiences.

We offer Coaching, Training and Speaking services on topics like Branding, Leadership, Social Media strategy & Communications to inspire businesses to communicate with their audiences differently. With a focus on building a strong relationship between organisation and its audience, they will be in a position to Inspire, Influence and Impact.

About the 2B compass Pte Ltd:

Launched in November 2007, Business China’s mission is to nurture an inclusive bilingual and bicultural group of Singaporeans through extensive use of the Chinese language as the medium of communication, so as to sustain our multi-cultural heritage, and to develop a cultural and economic bridge linking the world and China.
Harnessing the support of the public sector and private enterprises, Business China, as a non-profit organisation, aims to strengthen the ties between Singapore and China, so as to sustain and grow the global connectivity of Singapore through:

• Becoming the leading bilingual and bicultural channel for closer collaboration with China.
• Establishing a widespread appreciation and acceptance of Chinese language and culture, within the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural mosaic that is fundamental to the Singapore identity.
• Nurturing young Singaporeans to develop deeper links with China, engaging it in all facets including economic, business, social, cultural and educational.

About *SCAPE Co. Ltd

*SCAPE Co. Ltd is a non-profit organisation with its mission and vision rooted in support of youth, talent and leadership development. The organisation aims to facilitate youth-oriented programmes and support within various communities of youth interest in Singapore. The youth of today will be inspired and empowered to DREAM IT AND LIVE IT at *SCAPE!

*SCAPE exists to serve and support youths to live their dreams and realise their full potential.. As the integrated talent and resource hub for young people in Singapore, *SCAPE offers a holistic network of programmes, communities, partners and facilities for youths to explore, create and strive. No dream is too small, no dream is too big. *SCAPE wants youths to be inspired to come forward and share their interests, share their dreams. Through guidance and facilitation, *SCAPE wants to see their dreams turn into ideas, and ideas into reality. Living their dreams should no longer be a dream at *SCAPE.

About SUSS

SUSS is a university with a rich heritage in providing lifelong, learner-centric and industry-relevant education. Our mission is to champion lifelong education to develop future thinkers and leaders to their fullest potential through our 3H’s education philosophy – ‘Head’ for professional competency with applied knowledge, ‘Heart’ for social awareness of the needs of the society, and ‘Habit’ for passion towards lifelong learning.

We offer more than 70 undergraduate and graduate programmes, available in full- and part-time study modes which are flexible, modular and multi-faceted in learning experience to cater to both fresh school leavers and adult learners. We also launched a broad range of continuing education and training modular courses for the professional skills and knowledge upgrading of our workforce.

Our programmes and courses are made available through our five schools:

• S R Nathan School of Human Development
• School of Business
• School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences
• School of Law
• School of Science and Technology

To date, over 35,000 graduates have chosen SUSS as their university of choice. Each year, about 15,000 students are pursuing their full- and part-time studies with us.

From 1 April 2019, the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) became an autonomous institute of SUSS. Both entities enable a synergistic collaboration as IAL brings to SUSS its expertise and experience in adult learning and Continuing Education and Training (CET), while SUSS provides an ecosystem of resources and experts rooted in academic rigour.

For more information on SUSS, please visit www.suss.edu.sg.