Deadline: early December 2026
2026 Better Design Award (BDA)
- Guided by: China Media Group (CMG), the People's Government of Guangdong Province, the People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality and the People's Government of Shenzhen Municipality;
- Hosted by: the Organizing Committee of the Better Design Award;
- Organized by: Guangdong Better Design Innovation Center (preparatory);
- Partner organizations: Central Academy of Fine Arts, Sun Yat-sen University, South China University of Technology, Zhejiang University, Tongji University, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, the World Design Organization (WDO), the World Green Design Organization (WGDO), Hong Kong Design Centre, and others.
Location
Open to all countries and regions; rooted in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Guangdong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen), with online registration via www.bdaward.com; the awards ceremony is held in China.
- Global launch: October 2026;
- Submission period: October to early December 2026 (entry closes around early December 2026; no exact date published);
- First-round review: mid-December 2026; work shipping: mid-December 2026 – early January 2027;
- Second-round review: mid-January 2027; final review: late February 2027;
- Awards ceremony: late March 2027.
Competition Category
Two main categories:
01. Product Design — with three groups:
a. Industrial Foundation (B2B/B2G products and urban public infrastructure: advanced intelligent equipment, green energy, smart city, transportation, public facilities, robotics and automation);
b. Better Life (B2C consumer products: smart home, consumer electronics, kitchen & bath, home appliances, lifestyle, sports & leisure);
c. Future Design (conceptual works not yet mass-produced or marketed; three subdivisions: ① Professional Concept Group — professional designers/enterprises; ② Student Concept Group — students/graduates within two years; ③ Emerging Team Group — start-ups, studios or independent teams established within two years).
02. Industrial Design — system-level solutions for industrial resource allocation, development pathways, market positioning, policy, security and culture, including new producer-service models and foundational design research.
Each work may be entered in only one category; product works must have launched after September 2024 (within two years) or be ready for mass production before the ceremony, with a fully functional prototype available at the second review.
Eligibility
Open worldwide to enterprises and institutions, design agencies, schools, design teams, research organizations and individuals from any country or region.
Entry Fee
Free; no entry fee is charged, though logistics, insurance and customs costs incurred by participation are borne by entrants.
Prizes/Awards
Total prize pool: CNY 4,100,000 (pre-tax):
- Product Design: Product Grand Award — 10 winners of ¥200,000 each; Concept Grand Award — 6 winners of ¥100,000 each; Product Design Award — 200 winners (no cash); Concept Design Award — 100 winners (no cash);
- Industrial Design: Industrial Design Award — 10 winners of ¥150,000 each.
(Total: ¥2,000,000 + ¥600,000 + ¥1,500,000 = ¥4,100,000)Additional benefits: trophies and certificates, free use of the BDA logo, industrial policy support and Greater Bay Area talent incentives, sales-channel and financing matchmaking, national honours recommendations, global touring exhibitions and museum display, coverage by CCTV and around 100 mainstream media outlets, and inclusion in the annual yearbook. Judging follows a dual-president system — Foreign Jury President Prof. Pradyumna Vyas (President of the World Design Organization) and Chinese Jury President Prof. Wang Ming (Central Academy of Fine Arts) — based on the three dimensions of foresight, industrialization and people orientation.
Core Introduction
The Better Design Award (BDA) is an international comprehensive design competition established under the guidance of China Media Group and the governments of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Aimed at empowering industrial development and accelerating the commercialization of innovation, it is rooted in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and connected to global design resources, focusing on modern industrial systems and new quality productive forces to recognize outstanding practices where design drives technological breakthroughs, product innovation, real-world implementation and industrial upgrading. The 2026 edition offers two main categories — Product Design (Industrial Foundation, Better Life and Future Design) and Industrial Design — and is open and free to enterprises, institutions, schools, teams and individuals worldwide. The prize pool totals CNY 4.1 million, including 10 Product Grand Awards (¥200,000 each), 6 Concept Grand Awards (¥100,000 each) and 10 Industrial Design Awards (¥150,000 each). Submissions run from October to early December 2026, followed by first, second and final reviews, with the awards ceremony in late March 2027. A full-chain "award plus post-award service" mechanism provides incubation, policy support, financing, marketing channels, media promotion and yearbook inclusion, building a world-class platform for Chinese design discourse.
