The event, organised by YES Global and UVIC and was held at the University of Liverpool in the City of London earlier in July.

“YES gives the chance to engage with possible overseas investor funding”

Following a discussion around ‘Golden Opportunities in the Golden Era’, finalists had to present their business plans in front of a panel of judges with over 270 combined years of knowledge and experience, including lecturers and professors from University of Liverpool Management School, Imperial College London, University of Southampton, Loughborough University, the University of Birmingham and Royal Holloway, University of London.

The overall winners, Chinese international student Menglin Sun, an MBA graduate from the Manchester University Business School, and British student Hojjat Azadbakht who also studied for his PhD in Manchester, will now go forward to compete against around 30 high-performing teams in the China National Convention Center.

Sun and Azadbakht impressed the judges and beat stiff competition including with their business plan for ‘Pure Flow Technologies’ a patented graphene aerogel smart air purifier.

Alongside their technical officer Amor Abdelkader from Bournemouth University, the students head to Beijing in August for the finals, where will have the chance to meet entrepreneurs from all around the world, introduce their project to various local venture capitals, exchange ideas with experts from various sectors, and get a glimpse of the huge opportunities and potential market in China.

UVIC head of global engagement David Staley told The PIE News that he was very impressed with the standard of competitors in this year’s final and that it was reflective of the level of talented international students studying in the UK.

“Together we have a proud history that serves international students, and UVIC, along with our university colleagues from sector leading institutions, we will continue to make a profound contribution to the lives of young people, their families and to society,” he said.

“We should rely on strong foundations that include financial sustainability and social responsibility and be guided by a set of principles that include creating an inclusive environment, being open-minded and continually being exceptional in all that we do.”

Learning without Borders CEO Philip Hao, who will accompany the UK winners to Beijing told The PIE it was a pleasure to support the OTEC event once more in 2018.

“For our YES -Young Elite Scheme – working alongside UVIC, it offers further support for all those international students choosing to study with our partnering UK universities and an opportunity to engage with possible overseas investor funding for their new business planning proposals,” he added.