As the grand finale of the Lingang Sci-Tech Innovation City Conference, the Award Ceremony of the X·TIME 2025 International Entrepreneurship Competition was held. A number of cutting-edge technological projects actively organized, coordinated and recommended by Peking University International Sci-Tech Innovation Center at Lin-gang Special Area, China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (PKU-IICSH) achieved outstanding results. Among them, the project Low-Cost Development Solution for MgB₂ High-Temperature Superconducting Materials, which was transformed from Peking University and incubated and guided by the PKU-IICSH, won the First Prize of the Competition; the project Qicai Micro Photoresist Resin claimed the Third Prize; and Wide-Speed Range Electric Propeller project recommended by the PKU-IICSH was awarded the Excellence Award.

The X·TIME 2025 International Entrepreneurship Competition recruited start-up teams worldwide, with five global divisions in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Silicon Valley and Milan, attracted over 680 high-quality innovation and entrepreneurship projects from home and abroad to compete.

Since the launch of the competition in May 2025, PKU-IICSH has actively explored, cultivated and recommended 14 projects with innovative potential to participate, covering strategic emerging fields such as new materials, new energy and high-end equipment that align with the development orientation of Lingang Special Area. Among them, nine projects successfully advanced to the semi-finals (eight in the Shanghai Division and one in the Silicon Valley Division). In the end, three projects recommended by PKU-IICSH made it to the final.

Notably, the project Low-Cost Development Solution for MgB₂ High-Temperature Superconducting Materials, incubated and based at PKU-IICSH, is led by a team from School of Physics, Peking University. It won the First Prize of the Competition by virtue of its disruptive material preparation technology and platform-based application potential. Previously, the project had set up an R&D Sub-platform – the High-Temperature Superconducting Materials and Devices R&D Center – at PKU-IICSH in 2025, realizing localized deployment at the R&D level in advance.

The Third Prize-winning project Qicai Micro Photoresist Resin is initiated by Qicai Micro, a start-up enterprise dedicated to the R&D of photoresist resin – a core material for integrated circuits – and its domestic substitution. Previously, Qicai Micro had received the first batch of “grant-to-investment” support funds of Lingang Special Area in 2025 upon the recommendation of PKU-IICSH.

The Excellence Award-winning project Wide-Speed Range Electric Propeller is developed by a team from the School of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Peking University, which has undertaken a number of relevant national and provincial projects. It is also one of the first domestic teams to master the forward design and integrated technology for full operating conditions of wide-speed range electric propellers.

The X·TIME 2025 International Entrepreneurship Competition is a gesture of Lingang Special Area opening its arms to the world, a grand declaration to pool global wisdom and co-build the "Lingang Sci-Tech Innovation City", and a pivotal leap from "industrial planning" to "ecological co-creation". In this competition, PKU-IICSH has actively promoted the connection of Peking University's scientific and technological achievements with Lingang's industrial resources through organizing project participation and supporting high-quality projects to win awards, which aimes at further helping Lingang Special Area to build a world-class international sci-tech innovation city featuring "lower costs, a better ecosystem, more supportive incubation services and a higher success rate" with greater resolve and greater collaborative efforts.