The Launching Ceremony of the China Fortune Social Venture Prize (CFSVP) was held on March 20, 2010 at UIC. Organized by the China Fortune Foundation Limited and UIC, CFSVP encourages students from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan to draw up business plans for starting social ventures, and provide financial support for viable projects. Priority is given to the practicability, social responsibility, and creativity of competitors. The China Fortune Foundation will donate up to HK$ 1 million for future competitors.
Officiating at the ceremony were Chairman of the China Fortune Foundation Mr. Li Ruliang, Chairman of the Judging Committee Mr. Xie Jiaju, Deputy Secretary of Zhuhai Municipal Government Mr. Li Li, and Executive Vice President of UIC Prof. S. T. Kwok. Students representatives from renowned universities including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Hong Kong Baptist University also attended the ceremony and watched the demonstration show given by the UIC SIFE team.
Mr. Li Ruliang said the activity aims at deepening students' understandings of social ventures, enlightening them on creative thinking, helping them cultivate senses of social responsibility and practical abilities. The criteria for selection focus more on social significance than economic returns.
March 8th marked the start of enrolment after which 30 participating teams will be offered a three-day training programme. In the final competition, 10 top teams will have access to the seed fund of up to 100 thousand HKD.
Director of UIC Whole Person Education Office Dr. Guo Haipeng revealed that the China Fortune Foundation is planning to make it a custom of carrying out China Fortune Venture Prize Competition annually in a bid for building a brand for the prize.
As yet, the activity has obtained positive responses from a great number of universities from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, including Hong Kong University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, University of Macao, National Taiwan University, Fu Jen Catholic University, Beijing University, Tsinghua University, Hong Kong Baptist University, etc. Eight student representatives from these universities were entitled to promotion ambassadors at the ceremony.
The student representatives of Tsinghua University and Beijing Unviersity said they were impressed with the idea of CFSVP and would spare no effort in promoting it when they went back to their university. The President of UIC Student Union said, all student representatives intended for participations with no exception to him, and he would prepare well for the compendious business plan in less than 500 words in the hope of proceeding into next challenge.
Reporter: Cheryl Chen
Translator: Huang Shanqing
Editor: Richard Xu
MPRO
