On April 30, the 2024 Summary and 2025 Launch Ceremony of “Xing Spark·Prairie Fire” Innovation Marathon was grandly held in Fuzhou. The event was guided by the Organizing Committee of the Digital China Summit and jointly hosted by China's Industrial Bank (CIB), the Fujian Provincial Federation of Trade Unions, and the Communist Youth League Fujian Provincial Committee. Huang Wei, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Lyu Jiajin, Chairman of CIB, attended the event and delivered speeches. Leaders from relevant departments of Fujian Province and guests from renowned enterprises were also present.
Lyu Jiajin stated that CIB has always kept in mind the “Technology-Driven Bank” strategy proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his tenure in Fujian, increased investment in technological resources, implemented the “Ten Thousand Technology Talents Plan,” promoted the integrated development of “Digital CIB” with digital finance, and gradually advanced digital transformation from the construction phase to the harvest phase. As the “Digital Finance Track” of the Digital China Innovation Competition 2025 under the Digital China Summit, the “Xing Spark·Prairie Fire” Innovation Marathon has been successfully held for three consecutive years. It serves as a vivid practice for CIB in developing digital finance and serving the digital economy, as well as a concrete measure to implement the Fujian Provincial Party Committee's action of “deepening learning to excel, daring to take the lead, and striving for practical results.” CIB will continue to drive innovation transformation, actively identify outstanding innovation projects from the competition, and facilitate the conversion and application of innovative outcomes to accelerate the cultivation of new productive forces. The bank will further refine the competition format, expand the scope of participants, and enhance the event's influence, and will also focus on advancing digital finance, accelerating the transition from “Digital CIB” to “Intelligent CIB,” and fully embracing artificial intelligence to make financial services more convenient and warm for the real economy and the people, steadfastly following the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics.
At the event, guests presented awards to the winning teams of the 2024 National Finals of the “Xing Spark·Prairie Fire” Innovation Marathon Open Competition and officially launched the 2025 edition.
The “Xing Spark·Prairie Fire” Innovation Marathon serves as a platform to gather innovative forces from various fields, injecting new vitality into the development of “Digital Fujian” and “Digital China” while driving its own accelerated transformation. The 2024 competition, themed “Innovation without Boundaries and Intelligence for the Future,” featured both internal and open competitions. The internal competition targeted CIB Group employees, attracting over 9,000 participants and collecting 705 innovative project proposals. The open competition, through public recruitment and targeted invitations, issued a nationwide call for submissions, focusing on digital finance and scenario ecosystems, and received 727 project entries, collectively exploring new business models and approaches for financial innovation. The 2025 competition will continue to focus on cutting-edge trends in fintech, deepen the integration of digital technology and financial services, and further broaden the scope of innovative collaboration.