Experts in domestic intelligent hardware industry and venture capital share their opinions on the development of intelligent economy on Sept 24. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Over 600 attendees including Ningbo enterprise delegates and makers from home and abroad gathered in Ningbo, Zhejiang province for the award ceremony of 2017 Qi Si Yong Dong China (Ningbo) Maker Competition on Sept 24.

A total of 16 maker projects stood out in the competition, considered one of the top contests in the domestic intelligent hardware industry. Since the government launched online-to-offline this May, a total of 1,020 entries from 43 cities worldwide have taken part. Their entries cover smart home, smart office, smart outdoors, smart vehicles, apparels, healthcare, leisure, family-care, and living aesthetics.

The FiFish underwater drone won the gold award for its excellent performance in high resolution and simultaneous image display. Instrument smart distance measurement ballpoint pen and SWDK D3 wireless handheld sweeper were the two winners of silver award, while the MINIJ Pro smart washing machine, HEXA robot and Qinjian H1 smart landline phone took home bronze.

Other awards at the ceremony included Best Popularity Award, Best Care Award, and Best Technology Award.

With Ningbo pushing to build itself into the first pilot city for implementing the Made in China 2025 strategy and Zhejiang's first pilot zone for projects connected to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the city needs talents more than ever, said an official of Ningbo government. Ningbo has long attached great importance to innovative talents and entrepreneurs and views it as key to becoming a talent city.

The city plans to perfect its management service and release more positive policies to ensure satisfaction both in their life and provide a better platform for their innovation and startup work in the future.

Experts in domestic intelligent hardware industry and venture capital also shared their opinions on the development of intelligent economy during the ceremony.