The event was inaugurated at SZPU’s OCT Campus.

On November 13, the “Bay Area Creativity—SZPU School of Innovation and Design Academic Week Series” kicked off at Shenzhen Polytechnic University (SZPU) OCT Campus. At the opening ceremony, SZPU signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the Futian District Government, officially launching a deep partnership to explore new paths and models for driving high-quality industrial development through cultural creativity.

The event was attended by Pan Lusheng, Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Chairman of the China Folk Literature and Art Association; Cai Maozhou, Chief Supervisor of the Shenzhen Municipal Education Bureau; Huang Wei, Secretary of the Futian District Party Committee; Yuan Ying, Deputy Mayor of Futian District; Yang Xinbin, SZPU Party Secretary; and Xu Jianling, SZPU Deputy Party Secretary and President. The event also attracted numerous experts, scholars, members of Shenzhen’s creative design industry associations, industry leaders, and guests from Hong Kong and Macao.

In his opening speech, Xu Jianling highlighted that Shenzhen, as China’s first “City of Design”, has become a national hub for creative design thanks to policy support and industrial agglomeration effects. He emphasized that SZPU, as a local innovation talent training base, will continue advancing creative design education and talent cultivation, contributing to industrial innovation and upgrading in the Greater Bay Area.

Yuan Ying noted in her speech that Futian District, as Shenzhen’s central urban area, has witnessed thriving growth in the creative industries. She expressed her hope that the collaboration between Futian District and SZPU would yield fruitful results in industry-education integration and talent development, injecting new momentum into high-quality development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Cai Maozhou stated that Shenzhen’s creative industries are thriving not only in traditional areas such as design, animation, and gaming but also in emerging fields such as fashion, advertising, and film production. He emphasized Futian District’s status as a stronghold of Shenzhen’s cultural and creative industries and expressed optimism that the collaboration with SZPU’s School of Innovation and Design would lead to significant achievements in industry-education integration.

Strategic Cooperation Agreement Signing

The signing ceremony followed. Under the agreement, both parties will align their efforts with Shenzhen’s “20+8 Industrial Clusters” initiative to deeply collaborate in talent cultivation, industrial upgrading, and industry-academia-research integration. The partnership aims to leverage their complementary strengths and interconnected resources to empower and drive the high-quality development of the regional creative design industry.

The “Bay Area Creativity—SZPU School of Innovation and Design Academic Week Series” is a comprehensive event that integrates academic exchange, the presentation of educational achievements, and industry collaboration. The event includes the “Leading Fashion—Greater Bay Area Creative Design Academic Conference”, the “To the Top” Fashion Design Showcase and Exchange, and the “Pursuing Beauty, Thriving Together” SZPU Design Education Exploration and Practice Exhibition. This academic week serves as a platform for academia and industry to exchange ideas, share experiences, and explore cooperative opportunities. It provides a catalyst for regional resource flow and collaborative innovation, further advancing the integration of design education with the creative industries and contributing to the high-quality development of fashion and creative design in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Leading Fashion—Greater Bay Area Creative Design Academic Conference

“To the Top”—Fashion Design Showcase and Exchange

“Pursuing Beauty, Thriving Together”—SZPU Design Education Exploration and Practice Exhibition

From its inception, Shenzhen Polytechnic University (SZPU) established programs in Environmental Art Design and Fashion Design, laying the foundation for its significant contributions to Shenzhen’s rise as a design powerhouse. Over the years, SZPU has produced a wealth of outstanding talent for the city’s design industry and created a series of acclaimed and commercially successful design works, such as “Candy Mania” and the banquet ceramics for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit. Many of its design projects have won prestigious international awards, including the Red Dot Award and the iF Design Award. This year, responding to the evolving landscape of Shenzhen’s creative industries and the new requirements of vocational undergraduate education, SZPU founded the School of Innovation and Design based on its former School of Art and Design. The new school aims to become a globally renowned hub for cultivating innovative design talent and a strategic pillar for the creative design industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

(By Peng Lili, School of Design)