Student entrepreneurs learn harsh lessons in China

An employment fair in Weifang, Shandong province, attracts a huge number of graduates in search of work on March 2.HE JINGHUA AND ZHANG CHI/FOR CHINA DAILY

On Dec 10, the Ministry of Education published guidelines ordering all universities and colleges to support student startups by providing training courses and financial support, and by implementing a flexible marking system to allow students to suspend their studies while they try to establish businesses.

The government has also stepped up policy support for new, innovative businesses via a range of measures, including simplifying the registration procedures and providing subsidies.

Last year, the number of new company registrations surged to 3.65 million, a year-on-year rise of almost 46 percent, according to Xinhua News Agency.

In 2013, the graduate startup rate was 2.3 percent, 0.3 percent higher than the previous year, and the favored industries were catering, education and retailing, according to a report by the consultancy MyCOS Data.

"Starting a business helps to create jobs," said Yang Xiaohui, Party chief of Northeast Normal University. "An average one-graduate startup can create 3.63 jobs, and an average startup company can create 16.72."

A few years ago, Zhang Naiqi, from Jiangsu province, had the novel idea of founding a startup to exploit the startup trend, and set to work establishing an online information exchange and meeting platform for new businesses.

Zhang's company in Shanghai now has seven full-time employees. The 26-year-old said his platform is expected to have more than 100,000 registered users by the end of the year, and he will recruit more employees in cities such as Beijing, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, and Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province.

In Beijing, one of the most popular haunts for young Internet entrepreneurs is the Garage Cafe, a coffee bar close to the Zhongguancun technology hub that provides startups with communication facilities and workspaces.

Garage Cafe's Li Yan said more students are starting businesses, but the overall percentage is still low. "It's a natural trend. It's natural because everyone born in the 1990s grew up with the mobile Internet. They are very sharp in terms of ideas, and know their target customers better than people who were born earlier, in the 1970s for instance," she said.

"Besides, the environment has changed so much," she added. "Before 2010, you could only get access to other startups, angel investors or venture capitalists if you moved in certain circles. But now, anyone can get in touch with investors if they have a great idea, and investors are always eager to meet startups."

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