Fourth Chinese Auto Design Competition launched

The fourth Chinese Auto Design Contest officially launched in Beijing last week. Sponsored by China's Society of Automotive Engineers, the China Industrial Design Association, the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and the Beijing Fengtai District People's Government, the competition is the largest and most authoritative state-level professional event.

Held biennially, this year's Chinese Auto Design competition is divided into two categories: Design Innovation (which judges current vehicles created by automakers) and Creative Design. Independently developed models, which highlight technological innovation and have made outstanding achievements to automotive design, will be candidates for the Best Design Innovation Award, Best Costume Design Award, Best Green Design Award and Patent Award, presented by the State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C.

The Society of Automotive Engineers of China will issue the Golden Dot Design Award – the highest accolade in the Chinese automobile design industry – as well as the Outstanding Team of Designers award and the Outstanding Designer Award, while the Creative Design Competition welcomes participants from the social community and major professional universities and art colleges. Acclaimed universities will issue awards in the Dot Design, Excellent Tutor and Best Talent contributions categories.

Open to groups or individuals older than 18 years of age in China (including Hong Kong and Macao), the competition is accepting entries until April 25, 2011. The preliminary judging – Ken Ma, President Assistant/Design Director of CCAG, and Yan Yang of the Art and Design College at Tsinghua University are two of the experts on the judging panel – will be completed in May and the finalists announced in June. These finalists will then submit prototypes by 30 July 2011 and the judges will determine the winners.

The organizers will hold a ceremony for the Design Innovation Awards at the end of September in Beijing, and all the winning designs will be featured in an exhibit in the city's automotive museum.

For more information on the competition and its requirements visit the official website: www.cnautodesign.com.cn

By Xie Guoqing and Bai Jianan