China-ASEAN industrial design contest seeks global entries

The news conference. [Photo provided to en.gxzf.gov.cn]

A news conference for the fourth "Golden Bauhinia Cup" China-ASEAN Industrial Design Competition was held on Aug 4 in Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. 

The competition is calling for global design work to enter it – in the areas of intelligent equipment, interactive designs, household appliances, furniture, automotive aftermarket products and daily chemicals.

The aim is to promote China-ASEAN cooperation and exchanges with the help of first-class industrial designs.

Guangxi has held the competition for three consecutive years. In 2022, the number of entries hit a record of over 6,100 and the number of entries from ASEAN countries was three times higher than in previous years.

Liuzhou has solid industrial foundations, with its products such as automotive parts highly favored by ASEAN countries.

"With the influence of this competition, we will accelerate the construction of the China-ASEAN Industrial Design City and create an industrial design industry cluster based in Guangxi and radiating out to ASEAN," said Yao Fang, deputy director of the management committee of the Liuzhou Yanghe Industrial New Area, which is also the organizer of this year's competition.

In recent years, Liuzhou River snail rice noodles have proved very popular at home and abroad - and their packaging designs have become a talking point of the competition. 

The noodles were well received by ASEAN consumers, but enterprises found that their products did not meet local customs and market demand, when talking to customers in the trading bloc. That's according to Hu Wen, from the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

As a result, a design specifically tailored to meet the needs of the ASEAN market - to lift the packaging of the Liuzhou River snail rice noodles - will be drawn up.

Registration for the competition started in early July and companies, institutions, schools, individuals, or groups from both home and abroad are invited to participate.

A total of over 110 awards have been set up, with a prize pool of over 700,000 yuan ($97,317). The top prize for a single work will be worth 120,000 yuan.