On August 15, the 2026 China Universities Aircraft Design Competition (CUADC) (Eastern Region) officially kicked off on the runway of Dajiaochang Airport in Nanjing’s Southern New Town. Approximately 1,200 students from 56 leading universities in East China, including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi and Shanghai, gathered in Nanjing, bringing with them around 200 aircraft designed, manufactured, assembled, tested and flown by student teams themselves. The competition aims to identify and cultivate university students’ capabilities in technological innovation and engineering practice in the aerospace sector, while nurturing a highly skilled pool of innovative talent for the high-quality development of China’s aviation industry and the modernization of national defense. (Photo by Liu Li)