A taste of the real world

A group of young people are taking part in a program where they learn the skills and gain knowledge for a life in business. Xing Wen reports.

A total of 22 student companies from 14 countries gathered in Beijing at the end of March, taking to their booths to showcase their products.

All the student company programs were selected to represent their countries in this year's Junior Achievement Asia Pacific Company of the Year.

The competition is an annual event held by Hong Kong-based JA Asia Pacific, which is part of JA Worldwide, a global nonprofit organization that has been teaching young people the skills and knowledge for a life in business since its initiation in 1993.

Speaking about the program, Vivian Lau, the president of JA Asia Pacific, says it is a coincidence that 70 percent of the teams are focusing on environmental protection and have launched related projects.

"It is not JA's special focus. But I found that young people are now so much more aware of the environment. And they understand that making money is not the only purpose of a business.

"One reason might be that the world is more connected now. And a young person in the Philippines may know what is happening in Indonesia. So, they want to be a part of the global community and provide solutions not only for their country, but for the world."

Zhang Chengkuan, a grade 2 student from Chengdu Shude High School in Sichuan province, says: "Functional, beautiful and easy to use are the three keywords to describe our product."