Sixty entrepreneurship projects were exhibited on Jan 18 at a conference called "You Can Make a Difference" for young entrepreneurs in Hangzhou.

Among the exhibits was an innovative new light bulb named the "ultimate bulb". The designer said the energy-saving light bulb has a life expectancy of as many as 60,000 hours versus a regular bulb’s life expectancy of 1,500 hours to 2,000 hours.

Faced with a tough job-hunting market, Hangzhou's municipal government initiated policies last year to provide subsidies for young people to start their own businesses. College graduates started 1,280 companies in Hangzhou in 2009, employing more than 6,300 people.

Most of those start-ups are located at Hangzhou's Saibo Venture Park, which provides entrepreneurs with free office space for two years, professional instruction in running a business and venture capital for innovative ideas. The free help is available to all Chinese residents of the province who graduated after 2005.

"Only a zero-threshold approach can solve big problems," said Hangzhou Mayor Cai Qi.

Saibo Venture Park, designed for 1,000 enterprises, now has 408 tenant businesses. Of those, 214 were founded by college graduates and about 100 were opened by undergraduate students.

Saibo Venture Park is the city's first enterprise park and the first program to respond to the city government's call to help young entrepreneurs.

By Li Hui

Editor: Lency