From June 27 to 29, the China-Central Asia College Students Innovation and Startup Competition, also serving as the Central Asia regional final of the China International College Students Innovation Competition (2026), was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The competition was held under the guidance of the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education, and organized by the Silk Road Agricultural Education, Science and Technology Innovation Alliance and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was co-organized by several universities, including Northwest A&F University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an Shiyou University, and Tashkent State Agrarian University. The competition was co-organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Promotion Association for Global Youth Innovation Leaders Community (PILC). The competition was also supported by China Construction Bank.
The awarding ceremony was attended by Narzullo Oblomuradov, Rector of Tashkent State Agrarian University; Sun Changdong, Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Uzbekistan; Tokhtamurod Umarovich Atakulov, Head of the Department of Science, Innovation and Education Development of the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan; Taviza Usmanova, Programme Officer of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Country Office in Uzbekistan; and Ma Chuang, Vice President of Northwest A&F University, among others.
Since the international project participation call was issued in March this year, a total of 736 teams from 108 universities across the five Central Asian countries have registered, with nearly 300 projects advancing to the preliminary review. Following eligibility checks and initial evaluations, 35 projects from 19 universities in the five Central Asian countries stood out and advanced to the final round. Ultimately, after on-site expert evaluation, 15 projects, including “Sodium Carbon New Life” from Tashkent State University of Economics in Uzbekistan, were awarded the gold prize.
During the competition, a China-Central Asia Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Exchange Roundtable was held concurrently. Young participants from various countries engaged in dialogues on topics including cross-border entrepreneurship and the empowerment of specialty industries through digital technologies. Traditional Chinese cultural experience activities were also organized. Participating faculty and students also visited the Huawei Uzbekistan Innovation Center to gain a firsthand understanding of its local infrastructure development and operations, with a particular focus on the latest advancements in 5G and mobile communication network deployment, as well as cloud and computing power infrastructure. Both sides also held on-site exchanges on prospects for cooperation in ICT education and human resources development. In addition, the faculty and students of the participating project teams visited our Tashkent Campus NWAFU to learn about its educational programs and enrollment status.
“Young people are very interested in innovation projects. Looking ahead, we look forward to seeing more such projects, especially in areas of cooperation between Central Asia and China. The China-Central Asia College Students Innovation and Startup Competition provides an excellent platform, and we hope more young students will join and participate,” said Jahangir Babadjanov, Programme Officer of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Country Office in Uzbekistan and one of the competition judges.
“We are grateful for the cross-border innovation platform built by the competition, which allows us to broaden our horizons through exchanges and sharpen our skills through practice. Taking this competition as a bridge, we will bravely shoulder our responsibilities, grow together through mutual learning, and forge ahead side by side on the path of innovation,” said Siyar Abliyamatov, an undergraduate student at Tashkent State Technical University and a gold prize winner.
It is reported that since its inception in 2025, the China-Central Asia College Students Innovation and Startup Competition has been actively promoting international exchanges in student innovation and has received a warm response from universities and students across Central Asia. The successful hosting of this Central Asia regional final has provided young people from various countries with a cross-border and cross-cultural innovation exchange platform, enabling them to enhance friendship and deepen cooperation through mutual learning, and contributing wisdom and efforts to the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.
