Shaoyang, Hunan: A Two-Way Journey for the "Backpack City"

Shaoyang in Hunan Province is a major hub for China's backpack industry.

Sixty percent of the country's schoolbags are produced here and shipped worldwide.

Shaoyang is also the place where young people—who once set out with backpacks—choose to return.

In 2024, Shaoyang attracted 6,077 young professionals, who now regard the city as their "second hometown" and contributed nearly half of its annual investment.

Recently, Shaoyang extended an invitation to young talent across the province.

The finals of the 16th "Challenge Cup" Chasing Financial Hunan College Students' Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition were held in Shaoyang, bringing together students from 98 universities across the province for a showcase of creativity and innovation. 
 

Event Scene (Photo by the Publicity Department of the CPC Shaoyang Municipal Committee

Widely known as the "Olympics" of youth innovation, the "Challenge Cup" has been held 16 times. It has long served as a cradle for cultivating university students' technological innovation achievements and entrepreneurial projects, and has traditionally been hosted in Changsha, the provincial capital.

Shaoyang became the competition’s first host city outside the provincial capital. Rather than simply saying the competition chose Shaoyang, it is more fitting to say that Shaoyang's innovative strength made it the right choice.

As early as 2018, Shaoyang began hosting citywide innovation and entrepreneurship competitions, building platforms for project showcases and resource matchmaking that have attracted more than 500 enterprises and entrepreneurial teams. Over the first six years, local tech-driven enterprises and innovators earned strong results in national and provincial competitions, with 28 companies winning 34 awards and securing more than CNY 6 million in prize funds.

With seven years of accumulated experience and a robust innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, the "Challenge Cup" finals enabled deep, meaningful matchmaking between participating teams and local enterprises and incubators. This not only offered valuable suggestions for refining projects, but also helped young students clarify their development paths. In addition, five projects secured on-site investment totaling CNY 2.9 million, while CNY 244 million in transformation funds found precise recipients.

The creativity of youth, nourished by tangible financial support, is rapidly transforming into real productivity.