(Yicai Global) Sept. 21 -- The China Academy of Art held an event to mark the launch of the third Design Intelligence Awards in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang province, on Sept. 19, and will start collecting works from around the world to compete for a total prize of CNY6.65 million (USD1 million).

The academy will announce the results for the awards, China's first international awards program for industrial design, in early May next year.

The award, supported by the Zhejiang provincial government, aims to provide a platform to evaluate and promote contemporary creative designs and transform of creative works.

More than 700 pieces have been produced through the project since the main prize was announced in May 2016, state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported.

The awards will focus on three major social issues during appraisal: the transformation and upgrade of traditional industries, intelligent manufacturing and humanistic care in the aged society.

Enterprises, organizations, design institutions, research institutions and individuals from around the world are eligible to submit entities from Sept. 19 to Jan. 19 next year, as long as their works have no intellectual property disputes.

They may participate through public registration, expert nominations, institutional recommendations, invitations or international promotion.

Zhejiang has been an early leader in domestic design in China, with more than 3,800 industrial enterprises earning revenues of CNY35.6 billion (USD5.5 billion) from design over the past five years.

Gao Xingfu, vice governor of Zhejiang, hopes the platform will promote excellence in design and attract talents to settle in the province and promote the upgrade of its traditional manufacturing industries.