Advanced FinTech AI Competition 2026 Kicks Off to Accelerate AI in Finance

SHANGHAI, July 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Registration is now officially open for AFAC 2026 (Advanced FinTech AI Competition), a premier international event aimed at integrating AI into real-world financial landscapes.

Co-hosted by over 30 leading universities and organizations, including the China Computer Federation (CCF), Ant Group, NVIDIA, Peking University, Fudan University, and Nanyang Technological University, AFAC 2026 invites developers, students, and startups worldwide to tackle the most pressing challenges at the intersection of AI and finance. Backed by a total prize pool exceeding 1 million RMB, the competition encourages distinguished ideas that accelerate the deployment of AI and large language model (LLM) in the financial sector, delivering tangible business value under genuine business operation constraints.

To cater to a wider range of innovators, AFAC 2026 features two groups designed to translate technological innovations into practical industry solutions aligned with real-world business scenarios and the latest industry trends:

1. Challenge Group (Algorithm Hackathon)

Target Participants: Students and Developers

Focus: Solving complex business problems using authentic fintech data.

Four Tracks:

• Market Participant Trading Behavior Identification and Fund Flow Analysis
• Complex Financial Document Reconstruction Challenge
• Automation Challenge under Sparse Feedback
• Financial Long-document Agent Dynamic Memory Compression and Efficient Q&A Challenge

2. Startup Group (Creative Development and Application)

Target Participants: One-Person Company (OPC) and Startup Teams

Focus: Leveraging LLM technologies to develop innovative business solutions and drive fintech-real economy integration.

Reference Directions:

• Intelligent Wealth Management & Banking Services
• Smart Insurance & Risk Management
• Inclusive Finance, Green Finance, & Pension Finance
• Frontier Technology Applications

For the Startup Group, AFAC 2026 introduces a comprehensive upgrade to its support ecosystem. The organizing committee has partnered with over 10 renowned incubators and venture capital firms, including Shanghai Sci-Tech Finance Alliance, TusStar Shanghai, XNode, MaShang Accelerator, Bund FTC, SEE Fund, and Plug and Play China, enabling outstanding projects to transition directly from the competition to startup incubation. Beyond the prize pool, winning projects will gain direct access to investment funds, a "green channel" for angel funding, and up to 30 million RMB in sci-tech financial credit.

Professor Zheng Weimin, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Professor at Tsinghua University, and Professor Liu Yuanchun, President of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, will serve as Honorary Chairs of AFAC 2026. They lead a panel of nearly 50 international experts, including university professors, industry experts, and investors, who will form the competition's expert judging committee.

Yin Jun, Chair of the AFAC 2026 Organizing Committee and CTO of the Wealth & Insurance Business Group at Ant Group, noted, "AI has reached unprecedented levels of hype, but truly landing it in industries—especially in the highly regulated and complex financial sector—remains incredibly challenging. AFAC 2026 is dedicated to providing a 'sandbox' that is as close to real-world scenarios as possible, effectively bridging the gap between academia and industry."

Now in its fourth year, AFAC has established itself as one of the world's most influential and largest FinTech AI competitions. Since its inception in 2023, the event has attracted over 15,000 teams and nearly 50,000 participants, spanning more than 600 universities and 400 companies globally. By leveraging real-world business data and typical industry scenarios, AFAC continues to serve as a vital launchpad for the next generation of AI talent and intelligent fintech solutions.

For more information and to register, please visit the official AFAC website:
https://afac.alipay.com/.

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Advanced FinTech AI Competition 2026 Kicks Off to Accelerate AI in Finance

HONG KONG, July 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Biel Crystal Holding Limited (Biel Crystal) has been awarded the prestigious honorary title "Red Dot: Product Design of the Year" for 2026 at the internationally renowned Red Dot Design Award competition organized by Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany. This award is used to recognize outstanding design products that have proved themselves through consistently innovative, top-class design quality and have set the highest standards of design excellence.

BIEL Crystal's Award-Winning Designs

BIEL Crystal's award-winning design is the "Witch Cloak" Ultra-Hard Coating, a smartphone glass cover technology developed in partnership with Honor Device Co., Ltd. This breakthrough cover glass is now featured on Honor's latest Magic V5 foldable smartphone.

"Witch Cloak" Ultra-Hard Coating, by virtue of its exclusive 4,000-layer structure, achieves a comprehensive upgrade across 6 key dimensions (impact resistance/scratch resistance/wear resistance/fingerprint resistance/slimness/smoothness).

Employing ultra-hard layers, the product boasts a Mohs hardness of over 7, offering impact/scratch resistance 10 times greater than that of its traditional counterparts—easily tackling daily impact and wear. It also incorporates multiple anti-reflective layers, improving light transmittance while reducing light reflectivity to minimize glare for high clarity even under strong light. A durable anti-fingerprint layer can withstand 15,000 friction cycles—3 times the industry standard—efficiently resisting fingerprints and oil stains to maintain a clean screen over time. Additionally, the application of nano-level polishing technology results in a friction coefficient of just 0.02, thereby facilitating smooth operation.

Co-Developing Companies: Honor Device Co., Ltd. & BIEL Crystal Holding Limited
Manufacturer: BIEL Crystal Holding Limited
Designers: Dengkui Miao, Qiuqun Chen, Simon Yeung, Jianbiao Wang, Jianxiang Huang, Dongjun Hou, Xiaohua Bian, Kai Ding, Deen He

About BIEL Crystal
As a global leader in exterior structure and module solutions for smart devices, BIEL Crystal serves a wide range of industries. Its advanced components are essential to consumer electronics, smart wearables, AR/VR glasses, and next-generation automotive applications. This trust is reflected in its long-standing partnerships with industry pioneers such as Apple, Samsung, Meta, and Tesla.

With more than 36 years of technological innovation and excellent management, BIEL Crystal has become a large technology innovation group with 9 advanced production bases worldwide, with a total investment of over $70 billion, covering a total area of about 5.08 million square meters, employing more than 100,000 people and with an annual production capacity of 2.5 billion pieces.

About the Red Dot Design Award

The Red Dot Design Award, established in 1955, is one of the world's most prestigious design awards. It recognizes design products that demonstrate outstanding innovation, creativity, and superior design quality, with particular emphasis on comprehensive design achievements realized through exceptional product excellence.

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Biel Crystal Wins the World's Preeminent Design Award, Red Dot Product Design of the Year 2026