Southeast Asia Youth Join Global Innovation Movement at Xiamen University Malaysia
With the Ministry of Education of China as the main organiser and Xiamen University China and Xiamen University Malaysia as co-organisers, the competition attracted over 1,200 students from 10 Southeast Asian countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), with projects covering topics such as sustainable technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and social entrepreneurship.
Ultimately, 50 teams from 7 countries received awards, including 10 First Prize Awards, 15 Second Prize Awards, and 25 Third Prize Awards. These winning teams represented Xiamen University Malaysia, University of Malaya, Sampoerna University, the National University of Singapore, Cambodia University of Technology and Science (CamTech), and various universities across the region.
The outstanding projects will be recommended for participation in the 2025 China International College Students' Innovation Competition finals. Minister-Counsellor Chen Youliang from the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Malaysia attended the ceremony and presented the awards.
Ms. Sun Yan, Executive President of the Promotion Association for Global Youth Innovation Leaders Community, noted that this was the first time a cross-regional sub-competition of the China International College Students' Innovation Competition was held. She emphasized that this marks a new chapter for the event and addresses the pressing need for enhanced regional collaboration.
Associate Professor Zhang Ying, Vice President of Xiamen University Malaysia, stated that the university has long been committed to fostering students' innovation abilities, and hopes that this event will strengthen people-to-people friendship between China and Southeast Asia, while promoting economic exchange with Southeast Asian countries.
Mr. Li Cheng, Deputy Director of the Academic Affairs Office at Xiamen University (China), delivered a speech on behalf of the university top management, emphasizing that the main campus and Malaysia campus will continue to deepen educational cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, promote science, technology, and talent exchange, and cultivate globally minded and innovative talent.
The China International College Students' Innovation Competition is one of the world's largest student innovation and entrepreneurship competitions. Since its inception in 2015, the competition has attracted millions of teams and tens of millions of participants from thousands of universities in over 100 countries spanning five continents.
The China–Malaysia Youth Innovation Competition, first launched in 2019, has now completed four successful editions. The event continues to garner strong participation from Malaysian students and has produced a number of notable outcomes.
The launching ceremony of this year's competition took place on 25 April 2025, and was attended by Mr. Zheng Xuefang, Minister of the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia; Dato' Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, President of the Malaysia-China Friendship Association; Professor Li Cheng, Deputy Director of Academic Affairs at Xiamen University; and Mr. Zhu Lei, Executive President of the Global Youth Innovation Leadership Community Association.
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