The finals of the inaugural Cultural and Creative Design Competition of the Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) took place on June 5. Held in Smart Classroom 210 of the main teaching building on the Shahe Campus, it represented the climax of the two-month-long event. The competition was hosted by theCUFE Leading Group for Publicity, Ideological and Cultural Work. It was organized by thePublicity Department of theCUFE Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and the CUFE's School of Culture and Communication.

With the "Cultural Charm of the CUFE: Inspiring New Chapters" as its theme, the competition focused on such areas as cultivating the university spirit, organizing cultural activities, creating a cultural environment and promoting a culture of integrity. It included categories like graphic design, digital multimedia and product design. A total of 72 outstanding works were submitted by 61 teams from 13 schools. After the preliminary selection, 15 works advanced to the finals, where the main creative teams presented and defended their projects on-site. Five works won first prizes, including "The Four Seasons of the CUFE: Chasing Light — Admission Cultural and Creative Series Design" and "Rolled Radiance — CUFE Cultural and Creative Lamps". Ten works, such as "Integrity at the CUFE: A Breeze of Purity" and "The FourPrecepts of the CUFE", received second prizes. Another 13 works, including "Dragon and Horse Time Collection — CUFE Cultural and Creative Stationery" and "Gathering Campus Scenery, Treasuring CUFE Memories", won third prizes.

The finalists give a presentation anddefense of their works.

The panel of judges for the finals includedXu Xinli, director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Academy of Fine Arts Committee, Wu Weihe, professor at the College of Art and Design of Beijing University of Technology, and Liu Jiaxing, director of the Planning and Design Department at Beijing Gehua Exhibition Co Ltd. Others included Zhu Xin, director of the School-Enterprise Cooperation Department atCGYEAR (Beijing) Technology Co Ltd, and Tao Xiaoxia, a student representative. The judges highly praised the overall quality of the entries, and provided professional guidance on areas such as creative optimization, process implementation and brand promotion.

A selection of some of the award-winning works

The competition provided an excellent platform for creative talent from across the university to exchange and showcase their ideas — further fostering a campus atmosphere enriched by culture. Moving forwards, plans are for the university to continue to deepen its cultural education, enrichcampus cultural platforms, and guide young students to strengthen their cultural confidence, and use creative and practical efforts to carry forward superlative culture and fulfill their responsibilities.

Writers:GAO Lu, DONG Chenyang, CHEN Xiangling

Reviewers:DING Yongling, SUN Shuangshuang, WANG Yushan

Editors: WANG Xinyu

Approvers: HUO Xiaoran