The design showcase, which champions innovation, ambition and the talent of tomorrow, returns with new briefs, new brands and a new awards category.

Car Design News is delighted to announce the return of its design showcase the China Awards with a new People’s Choice Award. The competition offers design students from across China the unique chance to respond to a variety of challenging briefs set by the most influential design directors in the world. Past winners have gone on to build successful careers at global OEMs, including Porsche.

This year, the cream of Chinese design talent will be invited to tackle exciting and challenging briefs from the likes of Geely, Yutong Bus and Volkswagen. Student submissions will respond to specific brief set by a car brand, which will then be sorted into one of 6 themed categories. This offers students the chance to become brief winners or category winners.

 To see the briefs go here, and to discover more about the judges and judging process go here.

Beginning in 2010, the China Awards’ influence has steadily grown. This year we asked the audience to vote for their favourite piece of work. The response was tremendous – we received over 25,000 votes over three days, prompting the launch of the new People’s Choice award category. Now entering its 12th year, the awards attracts entrants from over 130 design schools across china, totalling well over 300 pieces of work.

For 2021, the awards ceremony will return to Shanghai (Covid-19 restrictions permitting), and the judging will be as independently rigorous as ever to ensure the eventual winners meet the highest possible standards. Previous winners have gone on to successful careers in automotive design. Take Yi Lu, winner of the 2011 awards with an electric urban mobility vehicle for Peugeot, who now works as a creative designer in Tecno Art Research, part of Toyota Design, based in Nagoya, Japan. Or back-to-back winner in 2013 and 2014 respectively, Guo Jiayi, who is now an interior designer at Porsche.