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District seeds young and smart
December 21, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FLEDGLING entrepreneurs with drive and good ideas are being encouraged to succeed by supportive programs that include funding grants, rental support, professional tutors, preferential tax reduction and loan guarantees. Victoria Fei looks at positive conditions for the brave new world.
Renting an office of around 140 square meters in Yangpu District was a huge cost for He Bing, a post-graduate from Fudan University who wanted to start his own business from scratch.
On top of expenditure for office furniture, electricity and Internet fees, he was looking at paying an annual rent of at least 80,000 yuan (US$11,717).
Fortunately, though, he won a zero-interest loan for entrepreneurship of 80,000 yuan from Youth Business China's Shanghai Yangpu Office, which was launched on December 8, and a low-rental office provided by Yangpu government, with his plan to start an electronic company.
Youth Business China (YBC) is a non-profit program that aims to promote youth entrepreneurship. He is among the first batch of young people who have benefited from YBC's funding. The fund varies from 50,000 yuan to 80,000 yuan, depending on the applicant.
"When I took the road of starting my own business, I was prepared to face multi-level difficulties," He says. "Any factors that lead to an enterprise's success could also become a hurdle.
"From funding to management, from research and development to marketing, I'm glad that I got support from Yangpu government from the very beginning.''
Born in the late 1970s, He is older than those who start business right after university graduation.
When he graduated in 1999 with a major in applied physics, the young man worked in cities such as Wuhan in Hubei Province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, for several years before finally arriving in Shanghai to seek career development.
His jobs covered fields such as manufacturing, research and development, maintenance, sales and marketing. The work experience at research institutes, privately owned companies and foreign enterprises endowed him with enough knowledge to be motivated to start his own business.
So he made a decision to pursue a master's degree to improve himself, returning to Fudan University to major in solid-state electronics.
He spent most of his time in the labs but also took elective courses at the university's management college to expand his knowledge.
"This time I spent at the university made me fully prepared for a business of my own," He says. "I had plenty of time thinking about what I would do after graduation."
When he graduated in 2007, his passion for entrepreneurship exploded and a new journey started with his successful application for support from Shanghai University Students' Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Fund.
"The decision to start my own business is a result of many factors, including my personality, experience, and most importantly, opportunity,'' He says.
"The sound academic environment at Fudan University and student career guidance also played a significant role."
He's new company, dedicated to research and promotion of wireless sensor networks, was established in February this year.
The company now has six full-time employees and has achieved sales volumes of more than 800,000 yuan. The company's total assets are 1.5 million yuan.
"I'm lucky and now I'm truly aware of my responsibility as well," He says. "The products the company makes should closely tie to the development of the nation."
Real needs
More young talents have benefited from Yangpu's "torch-relay-style" service system for youth entrepreneurship.
The local government provides funds, preferential policies, low-rental offices and professional tutors. Almost 5,000 young people who started their own business have benefited from these services.
Ma Jiefu, vice director of Yangpu District, says the services cater to actual demands of youth entrepreneurship, from the start-up period of a new company to its industrialization.
Yangpu government had been surveying youth entrepreneurship since early 2008.
Finding that few policies and expensive office rents were among the biggest problems, major efforts have been made to relieve the difficulties in these two fields.
Preferential policies on tax reduction, loan guarantees and subsidies have been provided. Meanwhile, 14 science parks and service centers for university students have been established to provide locations for new companies.
In addition, 1,000 intern positions at social management and public service centers and 2,000 intern jobs at enterprises have been provided to university students this year.
To inspire more young people to start their own business, lectures and panel discussion are delivered to universities such as Fudan University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. This year, the local government invited senior officials from Visa China and The Bank of East Asia (China) Ltd?to give lectures at universities.
To provide legal guidance for young entrepreneurs, a handbook on laws concerning youth entrepreneurship was published through a joint effort of the local government and Yangpu Youth Entrepreneur Association.
Renting an office of around 140 square meters in Yangpu District was a huge cost for He Bing, a post-graduate from Fudan University who wanted to start his own business from scratch.
On top of expenditure for office furniture, electricity and Internet fees, he was looking at paying an annual rent of at least 80,000 yuan (US$11,717).
Fortunately, though, he won a zero-interest loan for entrepreneurship of 80,000 yuan from Youth Business China's Shanghai Yangpu Office, which was launched on December 8, and a low-rental office provided by Yangpu government, with his plan to start an electronic company.
Youth Business China (YBC) is a non-profit program that aims to promote youth entrepreneurship. He is among the first batch of young people who have benefited from YBC's funding. The fund varies from 50,000 yuan to 80,000 yuan, depending on the applicant.
"When I took the road of starting my own business, I was prepared to face multi-level difficulties," He says. "Any factors that lead to an enterprise's success could also become a hurdle.
"From funding to management, from research and development to marketing, I'm glad that I got support from Yangpu government from the very beginning.''
Born in the late 1970s, He is older than those who start business right after university graduation.
When he graduated in 1999 with a major in applied physics, the young man worked in cities such as Wuhan in Hubei Province, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, for several years before finally arriving in Shanghai to seek career development.
His jobs covered fields such as manufacturing, research and development, maintenance, sales and marketing. The work experience at research institutes, privately owned companies and foreign enterprises endowed him with enough knowledge to be motivated to start his own business.
So he made a decision to pursue a master's degree to improve himself, returning to Fudan University to major in solid-state electronics.
He spent most of his time in the labs but also took elective courses at the university's management college to expand his knowledge.
"This time I spent at the university made me fully prepared for a business of my own," He says. "I had plenty of time thinking about what I would do after graduation."
When he graduated in 2007, his passion for entrepreneurship exploded and a new journey started with his successful application for support from Shanghai University Students' Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Fund.
"The decision to start my own business is a result of many factors, including my personality, experience, and most importantly, opportunity,'' He says.
"The sound academic environment at Fudan University and student career guidance also played a significant role."
He's new company, dedicated to research and promotion of wireless sensor networks, was established in February this year.
The company now has six full-time employees and has achieved sales volumes of more than 800,000 yuan. The company's total assets are 1.5 million yuan.
"I'm lucky and now I'm truly aware of my responsibility as well," He says. "The products the company makes should closely tie to the development of the nation."
Real needs
More young talents have benefited from Yangpu's "torch-relay-style" service system for youth entrepreneurship.
The local government provides funds, preferential policies, low-rental offices and professional tutors. Almost 5,000 young people who started their own business have benefited from these services.
Ma Jiefu, vice director of Yangpu District, says the services cater to actual demands of youth entrepreneurship, from the start-up period of a new company to its industrialization.
Yangpu government had been surveying youth entrepreneurship since early 2008.
Finding that few policies and expensive office rents were among the biggest problems, major efforts have been made to relieve the difficulties in these two fields.
Preferential policies on tax reduction, loan guarantees and subsidies have been provided. Meanwhile, 14 science parks and service centers for university students have been established to provide locations for new companies.
In addition, 1,000 intern positions at social management and public service centers and 2,000 intern jobs at enterprises have been provided to university students this year.
To inspire more young people to start their own business, lectures and panel discussion are delivered to universities such as Fudan University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. This year, the local government invited senior officials from Visa China and The Bank of East Asia (China) Ltd?to give lectures at universities.
To provide legal guidance for young entrepreneurs, a handbook on laws concerning youth entrepreneurship was published through a joint effort of the local government and Yangpu Youth Entrepreneur Association.
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