The University of East Anglia's Norwich Business School played host to a national entrepreneurship competition this year, launching the annual event with an East Anglia China Business Forum on Monday (Jan 27).

The China-UK Entrepreneurship Competition, now in its 7th year, is an internationally successful initiative which encourages new business ventures between China and the UK.

Widely supported by universities, governments, and businesses in both China and UK, the challenge has been developed by a number of leading universities in the UK and China to bring together existing businesses and new student-led start-ups that are looking to develop commercial relationships and exploit market opportunities offered by collaborations between the two countries. This is the first time this innovative platform, supported by Chinese Embassy in London, comes to the east of England.

To kick off the 2014 competition, keynote speakers have addressed the guests at the UEA campus, sharing their own expertise and experience of international collaboration and entrepreneurship.

Dr Andy Wood OBE, the chair of East Anglia Local Economic Partnership, highlighted the significant opportunities of collaboration with China in this region. Mr. Andrew Barnes, the senior partner of Howes Percival LLP, discussed the importance of working with China. And James Stewart, partner of Menlo LLP, who is also former partner of the UK's longest established private equity company ECI, introduced the Venture capital opportunities between the two countries.

Mr. Gramham Creelman OBE, the Sheriff of Norwich, offered warm welcome to the competition on behalf of Norwich government. Also speaking were Dr Nick Rousseau, head of International Innovation Strategy at the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the director of China Britain Business Council, Chris Cotton. UEA pro-vice-chancellor, Prof Trevor Davies addressed at the event together with Prof Paul Dobson, the head of Norwich Business School. The event was chaired by Prof. Raphael Markellos, the director of research of the school.

The competition is part of the PMI2 (Prime Minister Initiative II) Connect project, supported by British Council and the Confucius Institute programme funded by Hanban. Teams will be selected for the chance to win a £5,000 cash prize, and an investment opportunity of £250,000 for the best business plans. Initial registration, proposal submission and selection deadline is 5pm Monday 14th April 2014.

The Organizers of this competition are: University of East Anglia, Lancaster University, University College London, the University of Edinburgh, China Innovation and Development Association UK, and Tianjin Association for Science and Technology, Chongqing National Science Park. Dr Yu Xiong, Senior Lecturer in Norwich Business School, is the founder and director of the competition. He is one of five core members of the China UK Innovation Expert Group, run by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, advising on China UK collaborating strategies. The Science and Technology Section of the Chinese Embassy, has been supporting this initiative during the past seven years.

The competition website: www.chinaukchallenge.com.