The final winners of the Second Annual China Business Plan Competition were announced  on September 13, 2006. The announcement of the three winning teams is the culmination of the year-long national competition, which began with nearly 150 entries. Howard Frank, dean of the Smith School and Mr. Liang Gui, director general of the Torch High-Tech Center at the China Ministry of Science and Technology, named the winners at an awards ceremony in Beijing, China.

The winners are:

• US$25,000 grand prize winner - Coolbar
• US$15,000 second prize winner - JBI
• US$10,000 third prize winner - China Lecture

"My congratulations to the winners," said Frank. "China clearly is emerging as a hotbed of entrepreneurship for the 21st century - a real motivation for the Smith School to continue to create initiatives that support the growth of world-class business ideas and leaders here."

The winners were selected from five finalist teams which were invited to compete in the final round of the competition. Daofeng He, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sinoway Investment Corporation, delivered the keynote address at the final round - which was themed "Building Leaders for the Digital Economy."

"I commend the Smith School for aggressively sharing its expertise and leadership in entrepreneurship in China," said competition judge Mark Walsh, managing partner, Ruxton Associates, LLC, and senior executive fellow at the Smith School's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. "With the annual China Business Plan Competition and its other entrepreneurship initiatives, the Smith School has created valuable forums for Chinese entrepreneurs to learn from best practices and to be inspired. Today's program had huge value for all involved."

In addition to naming the winners, Frank announced that the Smith School has partnered with CCTV as the exclusive academic provider for the popular "Win in China" reality television program. The Smith School has partnered with CCTV to jointly deliver the "Win in China - Smith School Business Plan Competition." Next year's competition will provide winning entrepreneurs with special training programs from the Smith School's Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship in the United States, as well as with scholarships to the school's world-class Executive MBA programs in Beijing and Shanghai. The competition is set to launch later in September 2006.

Entrepreneurship, globalization and the integration of business and technology are key areas of focus for the Smith School, which offers its leading Executive MBA programs in Beijing and Shanghai. Smith's business management programs in China, like the China Business Plan Competition, are built around the "Building Leaders for the Digital Economy" theme.

Sponsors for the Smith School's 2006 China Business Plan Competition include: The State of Maryland's Department of Business and Economic Development, ING Investment Management Asia/Pacific, New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), Zhongguancun Wangjing Science Park, The Hina Group, iSoftStone Information Service Corp., Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, ChinaCast, Opus8, Zernike USA, Shipston Group Limited, China Growth Capital, Zero2IPO, The Wall Street Journal Chinese Online Edition, Economic Observer, Discovering Value, Maryland Center China and Maryland China Business Council.