The artificial intelligence division of the Fifth Western Returned Scholars Association (WRSA) innovation and entrepreneurship competition has been launched in Jinan, providing a platform to connect global returnee talent with the city's rapidly growing AI industry.

Project submissions will be accepted through Aug 31, with the national finals scheduled for November and December. To attract high-quality projects, the competition offers a top prize of 80,000 yuan ($11,822) and up to 3 million yuan in commercialization support for selected projects.

The competition is closely linked to the WRSA returnees town in Jinan, which opened in October 2025 at the Supercomputing Science and Technology Park within the Qilu Science and Technology Innovation Corridor. As China's eighth returnees town and first dedicated to AI, it serves as a key platform for innovation, entrepreneurship, and talent development.

Supported by the city's strong AI ecosystem, the town focuses on four major areas: power semiconductors, intelligent sensors, advanced computing, and intelligent applications. Leveraging supercomputing resources and a network of 66 large language models, it provides returnees with support ranging from research and development to commercialization.

To help projects grow, the town offers a full range of services, including residential facilities, education resources, and medical services. It is also supported by 17 investment funds with a combined scale of 5.3 billion yuan for early-stage AI ventures.

Jinan has also opened 17 industry application scenarios for the competition, helping winning projects in translating innovation into real-world applications.

The artificial intelligence division of the Fifth WRSA innovation and entrepreneurship competition launches in Jinan, connecting international talent with the city's AI ecosystem. [Photo/WeChat account: lichengzugong]