To all students:

The "Challenge Cup" Chinese School Students' Entrepreneurship Plan Competition is a guiding, exemplary, practical and mass entrepreneurship exchange activity that has produced extensive and good influence in universities and society.

To further guide and encourage school students to enhance their understanding of national conditions and social conditions through extensive social practice and in-depth social observation, closely combine what they have learned with economic and social development, improve their awareness of innovation and entrepreneurship, and enhance their socialization ability, it is decided to hold the school-level selection competition of the 2026 "Challenge Cup" Chinese School Students' Entrepreneurship Plan Competition. The relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:

I. Types and Requirements of Competition Projects

Temporarily in accordance with the requirements of the previous national competition, focusing on the five development concepts of innovation, coordination, green, opening up and sharing, five project categories are set. This competition consists of five groups:

1. Scientific and Technological Innovation and Future Industries: Focusing on the innovation-driven development strategy, promoting the healthy development of the digital economy, and designing projects based on practical observation in the fields of quantum technology, metaverse, intelligent manufacturing, information technology, big data, artificial intelligence, life science, new materials, military-civilian integration, etc.

2. Rural Revitalization and Agricultural and Rural Modernization: Focusing on the rural revitalization strategy, and designing projects based on practical observation in the fields of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, e-commerce, rural tourism, etc.

3. Ecological Civilization Construction and Green Low-carbon Development: Focusing on the goals of green low-carbon development and carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and designing projects based on practical observation in the fields of green low-carbon industry, green consumption, environmental governance, sustainable resource development, ecological environmental protection, clean energy application, etc.

4. Cultural and Creative Industries and Regional Exchange and Cooperation: Highlighting integration and sharing, closely focusing on the "Belt and Road" Initiative and regional cooperation such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yellow River Basin, or designing projects based on practical observation in the fields of industrial design, animation advertising, sports competition, international cultural communication, foreign exchange and training, foreign economic and trade, etc.

5. Social Governance and Public Services: Focusing on the construction of the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and designing projects based on practical observation in the fields of government services, consumer life, public health and medical services, finance and economic law, education and training, transportation and logistics, human resources, urban-rural integration, etc.

If there are any changes in the categories of the provincial and national competitions, a separate notice will be issued. A separate notice will be issued for any other special competitions if applicable.

II. Participation Method

1. The project leader of the entry must be a member of this school, each project shall have no more than 10 student members (including the project leader) and no more than 3 instructors.

2. Participating teams shall submit the entry materials as required (one folder for each entry), including:

(1) 2026 "Challenge Cup" School-level Selection Competition Project Application Form (Annex 2) in Word and PDF formats;

(2) 2026 "Challenge Cup" School-level Selection Competition Entry Project Summary Form (Annex 3) in Excel format;

(3) A 20-page PPT for project introduction;

(4) Detailed project introduction materials;

(5) Relevant supporting materials (including patent certificates, third-party application certificates, etc.). If the participating project selects "Already Started a Business", it is required to provide "business license and other relevant certification documents with the project leader as the legal representative";

(6) A project introduction video (optional), with a size limit of 100M and only MP4 format is supported.

3. Each project leader shall send the above electronic materials in a single folder to the email address: 3996958002@qq.com before January 9, 2026, named as "Challenge Cup Entrepreneurship Plan Competition Materials - Project Name - Project Leader's Name". The compressed package and the email subject shall be named as: "Challenge Cup Entrepreneurship Plan Competition Materials - Project Name - Project Leader's Name".

Each project leader shall submit the hard copies of the project application form, project proposal, project introduction materials and other relevant supporting materials to the Student Work Office of the school (Room A1107, Emerald Science and Education Building, Emerald Lake Campus) before January 9, 2026.

III. Competition Schedule

1. October-December 2025: Publicity and Mobilization. Mobilize teachers and students to participate actively, encourage students to select high-quality entrepreneurship projects and form entrepreneurship teams in accordance with the principle of complementary advantages and collaborative innovation.

2. Early January 2026: Project Application and School-level Preliminary Contest. Each participating individual or team shall submit the project application to the affiliated unit (this school) of the first applicant of the team. The school shall conduct the initial evaluation of the participating projects and optimize and improve the projects to be recommended for the university-level competition.

3. January-February 2026: University-level Semi-final. The university evaluation committee shall organize expert judges to conduct a written review of all the declared works and select excellent works to enter the final defense.

4. March-April 2026: University-level Final. The university shall organize the on-site defense final. The evaluation committee shall determine the suggested award levels of the works based on the comprehensive scores of the written review and on-site defense, and report them to the organizing committee for review.

5. May-November 2026 and beyond: Preparation for the Provincial and National "Challenge Cup" Competitions. Based on the results of the university-level final, excellent works shall be selected to participate in the provincial and national competitions in accordance with the national competition rules.

IV. Award Setting

Several school-level Special Prizes, First Prizes, Second Prizes and Third Prizes shall be comprehensively awarded to the participating projects based on the final evaluation. The awards of the projects recommended by the school to participate in the university-level competition shall be recognized according to the evaluation results of the university-level competition.

Corresponding star recognition shall be given to the winning students in the "Scientific and Technological Innovation" module of the Second Classroom Transcript in accordance with the requirements of the Interim Measures for the Implementation of the "Second Classroom Transcript" System of Hefei University of Technology (Hegongda Zheng Fa [2019] No.70). Students who win awards in the provincial and national competitions shall also be rewarded in accordance with the Measures for the Reward of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competitions of Hefei University of Technology (Hegongda Zheng Fa [2018] No.211).

V. Contact Information

Contact Person: Teacher Ding

Contact Number: 0551-62901538

Students planning to participate in the competition are requested to join the school's 2026 "Challenge Cup" Entrepreneurship Plan Competition exchange QQ group: 1013938787, and relevant competition materials, training and notifications will be released through this group.

You can also join the university's 2026 "Challenge Cup" Entrepreneurship Plan Competition exchange QQ group: 689608528. All participating materials must be submitted to the school, and the university-level competition works shall be submitted uniformly by the school as a unit.

For details and relevant annex documents, please visit: https://ci.hfut.edu.cn/info/1063/15943.htm