The 5th annual China-Scotland Business Awards recognise and celebrate achievements in trade and investment between Scotland and China. The winners will be announced at a special ceremony during the Chinese-Burns Supper on 3 February 2022 in Edinburgh. Apply here
Applications are now open and will close at midnight on Wednesday, 24 November. Early applications are encouraged. Interested parties can apply for five different categories: Exporter of the Year, Educational Partnership of the Year, Chinese Investor of the Year, the Award for Climate Action and Entrepreneur of the Year. Read more about the categories below.
Exporter of the Year
Exports are at the heart of Scotland’s trading relationship with China, and an increasingly important area of development as the Chinese market develops an appetite not just for Scottish engineering and financial services, but also its food and drink. Open to companies of all sizes and all sectors, this category aims to celebrate Scottish exporters who have shown resilience and determination to get through the challenges of the past 12 months, as well as a powerful strategy for 2022 and beyond.
Educational Partnership of the Year
Scotland’s education sector has been one of the most pioneering in fostering ties with China in the past few decades. The diverse projects undertaken are almost always in partnership with other organisations, forming the beating heart of innovation between our two countries. The Educational Partnership of the Year award aims to recognise excellent examples of such collaboration for the impact they have on the next generation of young people and cutting-edge research, as well as the wider Scotland-China business community.
Chinese Investor of the Year
Investment from China in Scotland has traditionally been in the energy sector, which is still very dominant, but in recent years the tech sector has also been a key area of activity. Investment is fundamental to the wider China-Scotland relationship and so the Investor of the Year is awarded to inward investment that has had a significant positive impact on the Scottish economy and society.
Award for Climate Action
The Award for Climate Action is a celebration of international collaboration between Scotland and China in climate action and is a timely reminder of the importance of these issues following COP26 in Glasgow. China’s continued engagement in these initiatives is essential if they are to be a success. What Scottish businesses with Chinese connections have been doing to mitigate the impending climate emergency will be celebrated through this award.
Entrepreneur of the Year
Entrepreneur of the Year seeks to celebrate an outstanding individual who has shown exceptional entrepreneurship in growing their business in China and/or Scotland. The award is open to any entrepreneur-led business active in the Scotland-China business community, who has demonstrated resilience and creativity in facing up to the past year of challenges.
Last year’s winners included Exporter of the Year Ireland Alloys, which specialises in recycling and selling superalloy scrap and achieved £1.3 million worth of exports in 2020; and University of Glasgow and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) joint institute, located at UESTC’s Qingshuihe campus in Chengdu, and which now has over 2000 students, encompassing three dual-award undergraduate BEng (Honours) degree programmes, and netting them Educational Partnership of the Year.
Click here to apply for the 2022 China-Scotland Business Awards. Please note that applications close on 24 November 2021
