Science Fiction Planet Awards opens entries with 6.65M yuan prize pot

The fourth Science Fiction Planet Awards launched its global call for entries on Friday with a total prize pool of 6.65 million yuan ($955,000).

A promotional image for the Science Fiction Planet Competition, a flagship event of the China Science Fiction Convention. [Image courtesy of the Science Fiction Planet Awards] 

The competition is open to science fiction-related organizations, universities, teams and individuals worldwide. Submissions are open until Feb. 25.

This edition is a flagship event of the 10th China Science Fiction Convention in 2026. The competition will select the top three entries from seven categories, totaling 21 winners, while also identifying 12 projects for incubation support. The highest single prize is 1 million yuan.

The competition's existing categories cover sci-fi technology, literature and intellectual property. This year's edition adds awards for sci-fi gaming and application scenarios. The competition has also broadened its submission criteria and welcomes cross-disciplinary work, organizers said.

The sci-fi literature category features three sections with a total prize pool of 1.7 million yuan. The novel section awards the top three published or contracted works exceeding 100,000 characters with prizes of 600,000, 300,000 and 100,000 yuan, respectively. It seeks works that balance hard science fiction with literary quality.

The novella and short story section awards 200,000, 100,000 and 50,000 yuan to the top three works. Entries must be between 5,000 and 100,000 characters.

The teen literature section, for works over 25,000 characters, awards 200,000, 100,000 and 50,000 yuan.

Eligible works must be original Chinese-language novels first published between Oct. 1, 2023, and Sept. 30, 2025. Finalists must present their synopsis and creative concept in person.

The Science Fiction Rising Star Support Program selects four emerging authors, awarding each 50,000 yuan. It targets new authors without established publishing records in sci-fi. Eligible works must be original, focus on hard sci-fi themes like deep space exploration or planetary habitation, and exceed 15,000 Chinese characters.

Contestants can register online through the official Science Fiction Planet Awards website. Winners will be announced on March 29.

The Science Fiction Planet Awards was founded in 2021 by sci-fi writers Wang Jinkang, Liu Cixin and Wu Yan, along with director Frant Gwo. 

Organizers describe it as the first international sci-fi competition of its kind based in China, aiming to bridge creative incubation and industrial transformation with a mission of "promoting technological innovation, facilitating industry-finance collaboration, and incubating original talent."

Since its inception, the competition has received more than 2,000 entries from 14 countries and regions.