Zijun (BJ) Deng an employee from Seren Energy Ltd (www.serenenergy.co.uk) studying for a MBA at Swansea University has a developed a business plan to bring Chinese manufactured low-carbon energy equipment to UK businesses.

Professor Andrew Henley, Head of the School of Business and Economics, says "I am delighted that our international student has made it successfully through the final of the China Innovation Development Association competition at Lancaster University. The standard of this highly original business proposal from Swansea is seen in the quality of the teams from the other competing institutions. I wish Mr Deng well in the final."

Pictured, left to right, are Dr Yu Xiong (CIDAUK), Zijun Deng (Seren Energy), Shuo Li (Radii Technology), Changxin Wu (Power Silicon), and Professor David Brown (Director, LCMC).

Teams of Chinese entrepreneurs competed in the semi-final of the Dragon's Den style competition at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS).

The competition, now in its third year, was designed to boost UK-China relationships and was initially intended to inspire and generate new high-growth businesses, and to encourage entrepreneurial talent amongst Chinese students and scholars.

From an original field of 179, eight shortlisted teams from six British and two Chinese Universities competed for a share of the total prize of £4,000, by presenting their ideas and products, along with business plans, to the panel of judges.

The winners will also receive expert business and enterprise advice from the sponsors to help put their ideas on the road to commercial success.

This China-UK Entrepreneurship Competition is organised by the China Innovation and Development Association (CIDA), the British Society of Chinese Entrepreneur, and the Lancaster China Management Centre (LCMC).

The event was launched by Dr Wang Baoqing, Chinese Minister Counsellor for Science and Technology, who spoke about China's innovation agenda and about the significant commitment by both governments to the fostering of Sino-UK collaborative projects and research.

Dr Yu Xiong, director of the organising committee, said the aim of the competition was to encourage people to develop collaborative businesses in China and the UK, and that this was a unique business competition in UK and Europe.

This was the first year in which two of the shortlisted plans were submitted by China-based teams, and video conferencing links were successfully set up so that the judging panel could engage with them directly. And the pilot showed the potential for encouraging even more participation from Chinese teams in future competitions.

The four winning projects on the day were:

• CHONGQING DAZZLE (TingHua University, China): 'Intense pulsed light system' (IPL) – a beauty treatment using light with high energy and broad wavelength to break down pigmentations and boost collagen production, restoring a more youthful appearance without downtime and side effects. Target market includes salons, clinics and hospitals around the world;
• SEREN ENERGY (Swansea University): Aiming to build an e-business solution for low carbon technology. Providing solar keymark Chinese solar panels to UK businesses via an e-business solution. There are no solar panel test labs in the UK or Ireland at the moment to give solar panel certification. Therefore, with a solar keymark, the Chinese solar panels will have a great advantage in the market;
• RADII TECHNOLOGY (University College, London): Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) – Radii have developed technology which significantly improves security within this market whilst affording re-programmability – can re-use tags reducing waste on developing more tags. Process of RFID in general should help to reduce paper use;
• POWER SILICON TECHNOLOGY (University of Cambridge): a spin-out company from the University. Aim is to produce carbon reduction innovations and energy saving solutions for electrical energy conversions with power semiconductor devices and controls. The lead product is Active Voltage Controller which is a semiconductor device for medium to high voltage applications.

The six 'dragons' on the judging panel (pictured) were Professor David Brown; Vince Cunningham, China Business Adviser, China-Britain Business Council; Richard Barnsley, International Commercial Manager, HSBC, Manchester; Dr Xiangu Sheng, Associate Director, Scott Wilson Environmental Consultancy, Cambridge; Mark Underwood, Managing Director, Weldspares Ltd, Warrington; and Dr Nigel Lockett, Senior Lecturer in Innovation, Brunel University Business School.

Organisations supporting the event included the Chinese Embassy, the Chongqing Government, Lancaster University, the China-Britain Business Council, First Enterprise Business Agency, and Oxford Innovation.

For more information about Swansea University's School of Business and Economics, visit the School's website.