Global Shanghai Gifts Design Competition Launched

The 2025 Shanghai Gifts Design Competition kicked off on Friday at the Shanghai Museum of Arts and Crafts in Xuhui District, inviting designers from home and abroad to showcase works reflecting the city's culture, flavor and stories.

This year, Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism introduced two competition tracks to encourage diverse participation.

A new track of the museum highlights museum treasures, architectural elements, intangible cultural heritage innovations, and the aesthetic value of handicrafts. It solicits cultural and creative product designs with creativity, culture, practical application and market potential.

The other track cooperates with the original art illustration project "PAGE SHANGHAI."

The project encourages creators to draw inspiration from Shanghai's streets, Jiangnan (regions to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River) culture, haipai (Shanghai-style) culture and longtang (alleyway) life, and depict the urban landscape and people's life with digital art and hand-drawn strokes to create exquisite gifts.

Those interested can register and submit works on the official website of the competition.

In the past three years, the competition has selected 638 "Shanghai Gifts" products.

Over the past two decades, it has become an "incubation platform" that tells Shanghai stories, awakens Shanghai memories and boosts cultural and tourism consumption. It creates a full cycle from design and incubation to market, connecting designers, manufacturers, IP holders, retailers, and investors, according to the administration.

This year, award announcements will be accompanied by incubation roadshows.