I. About DIA
Established in 2015, the Design Intelligence Award (DIA) is the
first international academy award in China’s design field. It serves
as a platform for the evaluation, promotion, exchange and
cooperation of contemporary innovative design, as well as an
innovation accelerator that transforms creative ideas into industry
and the future. With "Intelligence of Humanity, Living Wisdom,
Fusion of Tech & Art, Brain of Industry, Empathetic Life
Intelligence, and New-Quality Intelligent Form" as its core values,
DIA champions the return to the fundamental essence of design
"Intelligent Manufacturing".
II. Award Group Setting & Participants
The 2025 DIA Features two main groups: the Product Group and
the Innovation Incubation Group.
Product Group：
Eligibility: Open to all enterprises, universities & colleges,
institutions, and individuals.
Entry Requirements: Entries must either (1) be products
1launched within 2 years prior to the submission date, or (2) be
unreleased prototypes with industrial feasibility
Categories: Cultural Innovation, Life Wisdom, Industrial
Equipment, and Digital Economy.
Innovation Incubation Group:
Eligibility: Exclusively open to university-affiliated teams.
Participants must submit either a valid student ID or a
graduation certificate issued within the past 5 years.
Entry Requirements: Entries must be unreleased products
capable of delivering functional and aesthetic prototypes by
November 1, 2025.
Categories:
Enterprise-defined topic categories: Life Health, Smart
Cultural Tourism, Smart Mobility，and Intelligent Hardware
(specific topics will be announced later).
Open-ended category ("X"): Encourages exploration of
unknown fields.
The DIA Committee reserves the right to adjust entries’ group or
category.
III. Awards Setting
The 2025 DIA has established the Grand Award (1 winner,
¥1,000,000 per winner), open to entries from both the Product
Group and Innovation Incubation Group.
For the Product Group, the DIA offers the Gold Award (4 winners,
¥300,000 per winner), Silver Award (8 winners, ¥150,000 per
winner), and Bronze Award (10 winners, ¥100,000 per winner).
For the Innovation Incubation Group, the DIA provides the First
Prize (1 winner, ¥100,000 per winner), Second Prize (4 winners,
¥40,000 per winner), and Third Prize (10 winners, ¥10,000 per
winner). Additionally, the DIA will establish an enterprise
incubation fund to accelerate the industrial application of
outstanding creative ideas. Award-winning designers from theInnovation Incubation Group will receive internship opportunities
with designated enterprises. In addition, the Innovation Mentor
Award (5 awards, ¥40,000 each) is introduced to recognize
university faculty who integrate enterprise-driven challenges into
teaching and research, advancing the synergy of industry, education,
and innovation.
Approximately 300 entries from both groups will be selected as
Honorable Mention Awards (the final number depends on
evaluation results).
*All monetary awards are denominated in RMB pre-tax amounts. The actual disbursed
amount will be subject to China's tax regulations and administrative procedures, with
deductions for applicable taxes and production costs of trophies and award certificates.
*The Enterprise Incubation Fund, capitalized by participating enterprises, will serve as
seed-round investment to support project implementation and industrial transformation
IV. Categories
Product Group：
This Group consists of four categories, and participants are free to
choose their own topics.
(1) Cultural Innovation
To emphasize culture as the internal driving force behind ideas, we
look at the contemporary revival of traditional culture, the design
crafting of the idea, the value created both in culture IP and the
green sustainable development. This category is open to products
and services from the fields of cultural economics, including culture
gifts, stationery, packaging, fashion accessories, tableware,
furniture and lighting, social innovation and new cultural tourism
economy,
(2) Life Wisdom
To emphasize the way we live as a driving force behind ideas, we
look at the wisdom they bring to daily life, intelligent approaches to
everyday appliances and how they care for vulnerable groups in
society. This category is open to products and services from the
fields of mordern consumer sector, including electronics and digital
devices, household appliances, kitchen and bathroom essentials,
smart home technology, elderly care products, maternal and child
7supplies, personal care items, pets supplies, toys and musical
instruments, sports and leisure products, disaster prevention and
protection products, application of new technologies and materials,
etc.
(3) Industrial Equipment
To emphasize industrial upgrading as a driving force, we focus on
the transformation and upgrading of industrial equipment, the
future development of strategic and emerging industries, and the
optimization of production system efficiency. This category
encompasses products and services in the fields of high-end
equipment, including; transportation and logistics, medical
equipment, construction equipment, agriculture and forestry
equipment, military equipment, office equipment, green energy,
robots and automation tools, etc.
(4) Digital Economy
To emphasize the new economic model driven by digital
technology, we focus on the digital transformation and upgrading of
industries and the industrial application of artificial intelligence
technology. This category encompasses products and services in the
fields of the Internet economy, including spatial computing, smart
cities, smart mobility, smart business, smart medical care, smart
education, smart community, digital security, aerospace
information, industrial internet, virtual reality products, etc.
8Innovation Incubation Group:
This group consists of five categories, with Category “X” being an
open topic, and the rest being enterprise defined, with specific
topics announced seperately at a later time.
(1) Life Health：
Focus on innovative solutions in medical rehabilitation, care for
vulnerable groups, and ecological conservation to enhance quality
of life.
(2) Smart Cultural Tourism:
Focus on emphasizing the creative transformation and innovative
integration of culture in cultural IP operations, cultural tourism, and
exhibition experiences.
(3) Intelligent Hardware:
Focus on exploring AI-driven innovations in wearable devices,
smart home technologies, and robotics.
(4) Smart Mobility:
Focus on advancing solutions for new energy vehicles, low-altitude
economy, logistics, and transportation to optimize urban
infrastructure.
(5) X:
An open track encouraging young designers to explore uncharted
fields and pioneer novel innovations.
9V. Registration
(1) How to register
DIA adopts the selection mechanism of direct application and
expert nomination. Entries submitted by the public will be
evaluated in the Preliminary Evaluation, and entries nominated by
experts can directly enter the Second Evaluation after being
reviewed by the DIA Committee. To ensure the impartiality, a
mechanism of mutual independence is implemented between
nomination experts and evaluation experts.
All participants should log into the DIA official website
(www.di-award.org) for registration.
(2) Registration period and fees
The public registration will close at 24:00 (UTC+8) on June 20,
2025. Registration is free of charge, and the DIA committee
encourages all partcipants to complete their registration during the
public registration period. For those who miss the public
registration period, the DIA committee has specially set up an
additional registration opportunity, and corresponding fees will be
charged based on the extension, which will be used to extended
evaluation and organizational costs. No fees will be charged for
expert nominated works and works from the Innovation Incubation
Group throughout the process.
VI. Evaluation
(1) Evaluation process
Product Group：
There are three rounds of evaluation, namely, Preliminary
Evaluation, Second Evaluation and Final Evaluation. Graphic and
text evaluation is adopted in the Preliminary Evaluation, a
combination of physical product and video evaluation is adopted in
the Second Evaluation, and on-site oral defense is adopted in the
Final Evaluation.
Innovation Incubation Group：
There are two rounds of evaluation. The preliminary evaluation will
be conducted continuously throughout the year, and the finals will
take the form of team roadshows for on-site evaluation.
(2) Evaluation criteria
In the context of the intelligent manufacturing era, the unique “DIA
Evaluation System” includes three layers of criteria: a) The
fundamental layer emphasizes the “Principles of Design”, coveringevaluation factors such as functionality, aesthetics, technicality,
user-experience and sustainability. b) The advanced layer
emphasizes the “Direction of Design”, covering evaluation
factors such as contribution to humanity, industry and the future. c)
The top layer emphasizes the “Impact of Design”, covering
evaluation factors such as social influence and exemplary role for
the industry.
(3) Jury
Authoritative experts from all over the world are invited to serve as
DIA judges. In order to highlight the cross-border integration of
design and strengthen the comprehensiveness of evaluation, in
addition to experts in the design industry, experts in other related
fields such as science and technology, commerce and media are
also introduced to be DIA judges.
VII. Winners’ benefits
(1) Trophy and certificate
Every winner will receive a trophy and a certificate (received at the
Ceremony). Winners whose entries are included in the annual DIA
Exhibition will be awarded the DIA Exhibition Certificate. For the
entries donated to the DIA Committee, the participants will be
awarded the DIA Collection Certificate.
(2) DIA logo usage
All winners are entitled to lifetime free use of the DIA logo on their
award-winning entries.
(3) Yearbook inclusion and official website showcase
Award-winning entries will be included in the 2025 DIA Yearbook,
and will be permanently displayed in DIA official website.
(4) Exhibition tour
All award-winning entries will participate in the 2025 DIA
Exhibition, with opportunities for display in other domestic and
international exhibitions.
(5) Industry communication
All winners will be invited to participate in the DIA Award
Ceremony, forums, exhibitions and other series of activities,
engaging in face-to-face collaborations and exchanges with
representatives from the global design, academic, media, and
industry sectors.
(6) Media promotion
DIA has established a promotion network together with more than
100 mainstream media in various industries around the world.
Key events including the DIA Award Ceremony will be
live-streamed online. Winners will be prioritized for featured
13interviews across major media platforms, further amplifying the
societal impact of outstanding designs.
