Prince Andrew visits Uni of Nottingham Ningbo for exchanges

Prince Andrew delivers a speech at the unveiling ceremony of the Ingenuity Lab at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China on Nov 2. [Photo/zj.zjol.com]

Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward, Duke of York, visited the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) on Nov 2 in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, as an important part of his recent tour of China for promoting Sino-UK trade and innovation exchanges. 

Prince Andrew joined the roundtable discussion with students at the university and listened to them sharing their college experiences and ideas for starting businesses. 

"Every time I met with Prince Andrew, I could always feel his passion and concern for makers. He cares about how our project is going on and how he could help us. Moreover, his team will regularly e-mail us to check our development, which drives us to keep moving forward," said Xue Zhixing, founder of Yikun Sports, a world-class domestic frisbee manufacturer. 

Xue is an alumnus of the university and once participated in Pitch@Palace, a global entrepreneurship and innovation competition initiated by Prince Andrew, and broke into the final in China. This is the third time that Xue has met with Prince Andrew. 

Later that day, Prince Andrew also attended the unveiling ceremony of Ingenuity Lab at the university, and announced the start of the first Nottingham Ingenuity Global Innovation and Entrepreneurial Competition. 

The lab is designed to provide a platform for students to develop their entrepreneurship and realize their entrepreneurial ambitions via a series of services and activities. 

"It will help students transform ideas into commercial products, and here they will learn how to set up a team and realize their dreams. I hope everyone will give full play to their talents," said Prince Andrew.