On October 23rd, the 2024 “China-Strait” Industrial Design Week and the award ceremony for the 9th “Strait Cup” competition kicked off in Jinjiang, Fujian, under the theme “Redesigning for a Quality Future.” This event attracted hundreds of outstanding designers, representatives from design institutions, and experts from design schools across Fujian, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The initiative aims to enhance the design innovation capabilities of Fujian’s manufacturing industry and produce more high-quality domestic products.
As a platform for design and manufacturing interaction across the Taiwan Strait, the Fujian-Taiwan Industrial Design Exchange and Cooperation Center and the university student internship base were officially inaugurated during the event. Additionally, the Jinjiang Industrial Design and Fashion Creative Association signed cooperative agreements with various institutions, including the Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, the China National Fashion Enterprise Development Institute, Zhejiang Huima Industrial Internet Co., Ltd., and the Pengcheng Industrial Design Research Institute, to advance the integration of AI in industrial design.
“Given that Jinjiang has an industrial backbone worth 800 billion, focusing on industrial design is essential for empowering the real economy, facilitating industrial transformation, and accelerating new industrialization,” remarked Wang Mingyuan, the mayor of Jinjiang. He expressed hopes that this event would turn industrial design into a driving force for innovation and development in Jinjiang, revolutionizing production methods, enriching life aesthetics, and highlighting ecological values.
During the ceremony, the award-winning designs from the 9th “Strait Cup” Industrial Design Competition were announced. This year, the competition featured five categories: smart equipment, clothing, footwear, general household products, and a comprehensive category. A total of 13,370 submissions were received from 165 design schools and 20 industry institutions across the strait, with 95 pieces earning gold, silver, bronze, and excellence awards. The “National Team Athletic Shoe Series,” developed in collaboration with Anta (China) Co., Ltd., won the top honor, the special award of the “Strait Cup.”
Throughout the event, an exchange meeting focusing on Fujian-Hong Kong and Fujian-Taiwan industrial design collaboration took place, where over 20 design organizations from Taiwan and Hong Kong engaged directly with manufacturers in Jinjiang to foster innovation and cooperation. A lecture series titled “Design Without Borders, Intelligent Manufacturing Worldwide” was also held, featuring prominent Taiwanese designers sharing cutting-edge design concepts to inspire innovative thinking among businesses.
Various design innovation activities were scheduled throughout the week, including the “New Intelligence Gathering, Diverse Futures” dual exhibition, showcasing award-winning works from the “Strait Cup,” a creative exhibition from ten Taiwanese design agencies, and a “Crossing and Coexisting” future design exhibition featuring Chinese-American sneaker designers. Other highlights included an exhibition focused on cultural elements from Fujian and a showcase of quality products from Jinjiang.
Currently, Fujian is intensifying efforts to establish key county-level industrial chains and foster new production capabilities. As a powerful engine of industrial integrated innovation, industrial design is crucial for supporting high-quality development. Jinjiang is committed to cultivating design platforms, enhancing design capacities, and aggregating design resources, developing a comprehensive design competition system with the “Strait Cup” at its core, and setting up innovation centers while nurturing national and provincial-level industrial design centers.
Moving forward, Jinjiang aims to improve its industrial design service ecosystem, attracting more design talents and creative ideas from both domestic and international communities to empower local manufacturers and drive innovation.
