2026 Wenzhou International Design Biennial Call for Works

The 6th Wenzhou International Design Biennial, with the core theme of “Technology Secures People’s Life, Intelligence Creates a Beautiful City”（数安山海·智汇园博）, deeply anchors the cultural core of Wenzhou. This biennial not only strives to showcase and promote cutting-edge design concepts and innovative expressions, but also takes the deep integration of AI technology and the entire design industry chain as a core breakthrough point, focusing on cross-industry innovation between design and culture, technology, fashion, industry, and economy, and exploring a new path for high-quality development of design-supported industries under the empowerment of AI. With professional industry foresight, a high-standard international jury, and strict evaluation criteria, Wenzhou International Design Biennial is committed to creating a top-level design event that combines international vision, professional standards, and AI innovation characteristics.

Wenzhou is renowned for its reforms, has forged its glory through innovation, and is celebrated nationwide for its openness. The "Wenzhou Model", forged over more than 40 years of reform and opening-up, represents a massive and enduring effort in "innovation" and "design." In the digital era, AI is emerging as the core driving force behind the "New Wenzhou Model," injecting fresh vitality into the upgrading and iteration of Wenzhou's design industry. The Wenzhou International Design Biennial has been successfully held for five consecutive years, continuously deepening the exchange between Wenzhou design and the outside world, and strengthening its connection with the global community through a series of exhibitions and competitions.

This biennial will continue to uphold the concept of innovative design, leveraging AI as a novel platform for Wenzhou's culture to interconnect and embrace diversity, facilitating the promotion and transformation of innovative achievements. It aims to further showcase Wenzhou's culture of interconnectivity and inclusiveness, serving as a window for Wenzhou to view global culture and a platform for the world to understand Wenzhou culture.

I. Theme

Technology Secures People’s Life, Intelligence Create a Beautiful City.

-- Design empowers the urban future, innovation vitalizes the whole city

II. Official Language

Chinese, English

III. Participants

We are inviting submissions from all enterprises, universities, institutions, and individuals worldwide. Each category of the competition is divided into professional and student groups.

Professional group: designers, design enthusiasts, and practitioners from both domestic and international backgrounds.

Student group: full-time students enrolled in art colleges and universities both domestically and internationally, including undergraduates, master's and doctoral students, as well as students in vocational and technical colleges.

IV. Event Categories

This biennial competition comprises four major categories: Product Design, Environmental Art, Poster Design, and the "Movable-type Printing Creation Design" Cultural and Creative Product Design Specialty Competition. (More details in Attachment 1-4)

V. Participation Guidelines

(I) Registration method

The competition adopts a parallel selection mechanism involving public registration and expert nomination. Works submitted through public registration must undergo the preliminary evaluation phase, while works nominated by the organizing committee's experts can directly proceed to the final evaluation phase after being reviewed by the expert committee. The nominating experts and the reviewing experts operate independently.

(II) Registration time and fee

The deadline of submission is from now until 24:00 on June 30, 2026 (Beijing time). The committee does not charge any registration fees, but participants are responsible for any logistics, insurance, customs clearance, and other expenses incurred by participating in the competition.

(III) Submission instructions

The format of works is not limited, and products, software, and comprehensive services can all be registered. The committee has the right to adjust the group for the submitted works based on the actual work.

1. For products in professional group, the works have been required to launch on the market for less than 2 years, and works that have not been launched but can provide a fully functional prototype by the final evaluation this year; for products in student group, works have not been required to launch but need to provide a design model by the final evaluation this year.

Works created after June 2024 in poster group and environmental art group are eligible for participation.

2. Submitted works must be originally created by the author. Any plagiarism will result in disqualification from submission, and the author shall bear any legal consequences arising therefrom. Apart from the registration form, the submitted works must not contain any participant’s name, affiliation, or any other irrelevant marks; otherwise, the workes will be seen as ineligible.

3. Please read attachment for the requirements and guidelines. For more details,, please visit the official website of the Wenzhou International Design Biennial.

4. Works should be submitted online. Please register and complete the submission of your works on the submission page of the official website of the Wenzhou International Design Biennial (http://wzdb.zjcst.edu.cn/).

Note: Due to technical limitations on overseas login and registration, works can be submitted to the official email wzdb_zjist@126.com (only for overseas designers and students)

When submitting via email, a copy of the registration form (Attachment 5) must also be submitted together.

(IV) Collection

The committee will only collect award-winning works that meet the requirements and grant a “Collection Certificate of Wenzhou International Design Biennial”.

(V) Copyright ownership

1. Except for the works of "Movable-type Printing Creation Design" special competition, the intellectual property rights of all works belong to the participants. The organizing unit has the right to use the materials submitted by the participants for related promotional activities, including but not limited to filming, exhibitions, news reporting, and publication, etc. If there are special confidentiality requirements, the participant must submit a written application within 5 working days after registration is completed. Otherwise, it will be deemed as a public work, and the organizing committee will not be responsible for any losses caused by public display.

2. The Movable-type Printing Creation Design Competition is a special event organized by the Ruian Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism, and Sports. The bureau holds the copyright of the finalist works and may use them for subsequent cultural dissemination and promotional communication.

(VI) The prize money (tax exclusived) for this competition will be paid in RMB in China. If overseas design institutions or individuals are unable to receive RMB, they may authorize a legitimate independent legal entity in China to collect the payment on their behalf.

(VII) Based on the actual situation, the organizer has the right to adjust the time for award selection, presentation, and exhibition.

(VIII) No fees will be charged for this competition, and participants can voluntarily sign up.

VI. Timeline

The evaluation include three stages: preliminary evaluation, secondary evaluation, and final evaluation. The list of selected candidates will be announced on the official website.

1. Submission of works: From now until June 30, 2026

2. Announcement of finalists: September 2026

3. The expected delivery date of selected works: October 20, 2026

4. Final evaluation: after October 30, 2026

5. Exhibition: The work will be exhibited during the 2026 Wenzhou International Design Biennial.

VII. Contact

Tel: 86-13587878459(Ms Chen)

86-13084610511(Ms Yang)

Email: wzdb_zjist@126.com

Official website: http:// wzdb.zjcst.edu.cn /

Attachment 1 Requirements and Specifications for Product Design Group.docx