On October 10, the Championship Competition and Award Ceremony of the Shaanxi Division of the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition (2026) was held at the Gymnasium of the Yanta Campus of Xi’an Petroleum University. Zhang Heping, Second-Level Inspector of the Education Working Committee of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee and the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education, attended the event. Wang Jinfu, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Xi’an Petroleum University, attended the event and delivered a speech. Wan Xiaopeng, former Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Northwestern Polytechnical University and Director of the Competition Supervisory Committee, Wang Wenli, Vice President of the Shaanxi Branch of China Construction Bank, relevant responsible persons of China Construction Bank as the supporting unit of the competition and its concurrent activities, leaders in charge of universities across the province, heads of competition management departments, representatives of faculty and students, leaders and department heads of municipal education bureaus, responsible persons of relevant offices of the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education, all members of the Competition Finals Jury and the Competition Supervisory Committee, as well as representatives of industry and enterprise experts, investment and financing institutions, and faculty and student representatives attended the event on site.
This year’s competition was hosted by the Education Working Committee of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee and the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education, organized by Xi’an Petroleum University, and supported by the Shaanxi Branch of China Construction Bank, with the theme of “I Dare to Venture, I Can Innovate.” The competition featured the Higher Education Main Track, the “Youth Red Dream Journey” Track, the Vocational Education Track, the Industrial Track, as well as special tracks including “To Yan’an: A Journey of Sanqin Students to the Sacred Land,” OPC, and Humanoid Robotics. Participating projects covered fields such as artificial intelligence, new energy, low-altitude economy, aerospace, chip design, humanoid robotics, energy innovation, medical services, smart transportation, cultural communication, and rural revitalization, fully demonstrating the achievements of Shaanxi Province’s universities in the reform and development of new engineering, new medicine, new agriculture, and new liberal arts.
In his speech, Wang Jinfu extended warm congratulations to the teams that stood out and won honors, expressed sincere respect to all contestants who actively participated and pursued innovation, and conveyed heartfelt gratitude to the rigorous and impartial review experts, as well as all units and friends from various sectors that provided strong support for the competition. He pointed out that as a top-level national innovation and entrepreneurship competition, the China International College Students’ Innovation Competition serves as an important platform for gathering youthful strength in scientific and technological innovation and for testing the effectiveness of innovation and entrepreneurship education in universities. As a province rich in scientific and educational resources and a major hub for the energy industry, Shaanxi has continuously leveraged scientific and technological innovation to temper the innovative capabilities of young people and empower industrial transformation and upgrading, providing a broad practical stage and development opportunities for youth innovation and entrepreneurship. The scale of participation in this year’s competition reached a new high, with the events being splendid and highlights prominent, and the quality of projects, level of innovation, and value of practical implementation all achieving comprehensive improvement. The competition adopted the innovative education model of “enterprises pose the questions, teachers and students solve the problems, and the market verifies the solutions,” effectively connecting the education chain, talent chain, industrial chain, and innovation chain, and truly achieving the goals of promoting teaching, learning, innovation, and integration through competition. All teams closely aligned with national strategies, kept pace with industrial transformation trends, grounded themselves in their professional fields, and focused on solving practical problems, producing a large number of high-quality projects that meet industrial needs and possess both innovative value and application prospects, fully demonstrating the excellent character of Sanqin youth in forging ahead, daring to venture and innovate, and seeking truth and pragmatism.
Wang Jinfu stated that Xi’an Petroleum University felt deeply honored that the entire university could host this provincial-level innovation event, and expressed heartfelt thanks to the Education Working Committee of the CPC Shaanxi Provincial Committee and the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education for their trust and support, as well as to the Shaanxi Branch of China Construction Bank for its strong support. The university has always adhered to the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, closely aligned with the national energy strategy and Shaanxi’s development needs, deeply integrated innovation and entrepreneurship education into the entire process of talent cultivation, guided all young students of the university to integrate personal ideals into the broader development agenda, transform professional expertise into innovative momentum, and translate youthful creativity into practical achievements, enabling more youthful scientific and technological innovation forces to take root in Shaanxi, serve industries, and empower development.
According to the competition schedule, on October 8, team registration, drawing of lots, and defense material copying and testing were completed at the Huyi Campus of Xi’an Petroleum University; on October 9, the provincial semifinals for gold awards were held, with projects in each track conducting roadshow defenses in sequence. After group-stage review and final evaluation deliberation, two projects were selected from the provincial gold award projects in each track to enter the championship competition, with a total of eight projects taking the stage of the championship competition.
The championship competition adopted the format of on-site roadshows combined with defenses. Each shortlisted project took the stage in sequence. Participating teams presented their projects in terms of technological innovation, market prospects, social value, and practical implementation, and responded calmly to incisive questions from the judges, fully demonstrating the enterprising and innovative spirit of Shaanxi's young students.
After intense and fierce competition, the project “Valve Guardian: High-Reliability Pressure Relief Equipment for Ultra-High-Voltage Transformers” from Xi’an Jiaotong University, the project “Seeking Roots and Forging Souls: The Navigator of the Inheritance Model of China’s ‘Iron Man Spirit’” from Xi’an Petroleum University, the project “Intelligent Exploration Outpost: Wireless Advanced Geological Detection System for Deep Mines” from Shaanxi Energy Vocational and Technical College, and the project “Ultra-Core Pressure Sensing: High-Precision Pressure Sensors for Hypersonic Vehicle Surfaces” from Northwestern Polytechnical University won the championships of the Higher Education Main Track, the “Youth Red Dream Journey” Track, the Vocational Education Track, and the Industrial Track, respectively. The list of award winners was announced on site, and the leaders and guests attending the event presented honorary certificates to the winning representative teams of each track and the representatives of provincial gold award winners in sequence.
The award ceremony featured a splendid array of performances. The folk music club of Xi’an Petroleum University performed the folk music ensemble “My Motherland,” and Shaanxi Vocational College of Art presented an original piece titled “Setting Sail Toward the Light.”
Ma Feiyue, Deputy Director of the Higher Education Division of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Education, on behalf of the competition organizing committee, put forward three expectations for innovation and entrepreneurship work in universities across the province. First, universities must adhere to the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education, keep firmly to the competition’s original aspiration of talent cultivation, and integrate patriotism and innovative practice into the whole process of talent training. Second, efforts shall be stepped up to translate competition achievements into practical outcomes, break down barriers linking classrooms, competition venues and the market, and leverage Shaanxi Provincial Incubation and Transformation Base for College Students’ Innovation Achievements to help sci-tech innovation projects take root in the land of Sanqin. Third, solid and detailed event organization and support shall be delivered to complete the selection and recommendation of projects for the national competition with high quality. The organizing committee will host training camps for gold-award-winning projects, continuously improve the cultivation and selection system, pool strengths from all sides, and polish the brand of innovation and entrepreneurship education in Shaanxi’s universities.
The China International College Students’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition serves as a vital platform for innovation and entrepreneurship education for college students in the new era. The education system of Shaanxi Province has thoroughly acted on the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important reply to student representatives participating in the China International College Students’ Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, implemented national plans to deepen the reform of innovation and entrepreneurship education in institutions of higher education, closely aligned with major national strategies and the economic and social development needs of Shaanxi. Guided by the competition, Shaanxi continues to deepen the reform of university innovation and entrepreneurship education, advance the in-depth coupling of education chain, talent chain, industrial chain and innovation chain, promote precise docking between university innovation achievements and industrial demands, and strive to build a highland for cultivating innovative talents in the new era. This will inject sustained youthful momentum into fostering new quality productive forces and advancing the building of a Chinese path to modernization.
