The invention of a water purification system by Team Hanchao - a group of students from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou - has won them first prize in the Kun Shan Cup.
The Cup is a national start-up competition for outstanding college student entrepreneurial teams. Team Hanchao won one million yuan (HK$1.15 million) in funding.
The competition attracted entries by 4,154 teams from 636 mainland universities. It was organised by the National College Student Information and Career Centre to encourage students to set up and run their own companies, and attract venture-capital funding. Many students incorporated green ideas into their projects.
Wang Pengyun of Team Hanchao said their idea solved the problem of water eutrophication.
Eutrophication is the excessive build-up of nutrients in a lake or other body of water. The process leads to dense plant growth that, over time, decomposes in the water and kills marine life by depriving it of oxygen.
The team used microbes to break down the plants and purify the water, Wang said.