On 2 August 2016, the 12th Soong Ching Ling Award for Children's Invention was held during the 9th China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week (CAECW) in International Eco-Conference Center, Guiyang, Guizhou Province. The Award Ceremony was co-sponsored by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF) and China Association of Inventions(CAI), supported by Pray China Holdings Ltd and ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), and hosted by Soong Ching Ling Children's Science & Technology Pavilion. Ms. Cai Zhijun, Vice Chair of Guizhou Provincial Political Consultative Conference, H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ACC, Mr. Jing Dunquan, Vice Chairman of China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Mr. Peng Linji, President of Pray China Holdings Ltd, Mr. Yu Huangrong, Deputy Director-General and Secretary-General of China Association of Inventions and student representatives from relevant provinces and municipalities attended the Award Ceremony.
Vice Chair Ms. Cai Zhijun stressed the positive contribution of the Award for promoting children and youth’s scientific and technical innovation and cultivating professional talents. The Award this year attracted many participants with high quality of works covering broad areas and added new highlights to the CAECW. Under the support of all parties concerned, she is hopeful that the Award will continue to encourage greater contributions to the development of science and technology.
Secretary General H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping said that youth are the hope for national development, and they shoulder the future of ASEAN-China friendly cooperation. Activities of the Award including final assessment, invention presentation and awards ceremony during the CAECW has provided an excellent opportunity in expanding the communication and cooperation between ASEAN and China in the field of children's scientific and technological innovation. ACC is committed to continue to exert its effort and fully played its role as a bridge builder and facilitator in strengthening bilateral education, culture and youth exchange and cooperation. Thus, contribute to the consolidating of the social foundation of the strategic partnership and facilitating people-to-people contacts and exchanges between ASEAN and China .
Vice Chairman Jing Dunquan said that cultivating youth’s innovation spirit and scientific ability is of great importance to youth development and national prosperity. He expressed his gratitude for ACC’s work as a go-between and said that incorporating of Soong Ching Ling Award for Children's Invention to the 9th CAECW would help Chinese youth inventors go global with their work and creative dream. Vice president Yu Huarong briefed on the development history of Soong Ching Ling Award for Children's Invention since its establishment in 2001, and this year’s scale and selection process of the Award. He expressed his hope for a better future.
Mr. Tri Purnajaya and Mr.Sun Jianhua, Director and Vice Director of Education, Culture and Tourism Division of ACC, along with other guests, presented the awards to the winners during the ceremony.
The Soong Ching Ling Award for Children's Invention was initiated by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation (CSCLF) in collaboration with the China Association of Inventions and other units. Having held the event successfully for 11 sessions, the Award has attracted millions of children from all over China as well as Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. In recent years, children from ASEAN countries such as Malaysia have also joined the competition. The Award this year was initiated since December 2015, it went through four procedures of local filtration, online application, online preliminary assessment and site final assessment. There have been a total of 255 award-winning works, including 30 golds, 60 silvers and 165 bronzes.