By Deng Jingyin
Young people across the country are being encouraged to set up their own businesses with help from a campaign launched yesterday by Youth Business China (YBC) and CCTV, the two organizations said at a press conference in Beijing.
“Entrepreneur Classroom – China’s Young Entrepreneurs” is designed to help would-be business owners take their first steps in business.
“We will support young entrepreneurs by giving them easy access to credit, providing volunteer mentors and start-up support,” Gu Liping, director-general of YBC, said.
Since its foundation, the nongovernmental organization has helped 600 young people set up their own businesses, he said.
YBC has a 200-million-yuan ($30 million) fund contributed by firms across the country and has used it to help young people, mostly from rural, low-income families, set up small businesses such as chicken farms, handcraft workshops, bookstores, fast-food restaurants and kindergartens, Gu said.
“The employment situation is very bad at the moment, so with this campaign we aim to not only provide support for young entrepreneurs, but also help them to create new jobs for others,” she said.
The businesses that create the most jobs will get the most support, she said.
CCTV will support the campaign by airing a series of specially selected programs, including interviews with successful businesspeople like Lenovo Chairman Liu Chuanzhi, on its Economics Channel, Guo Zhenxi, the channel’s director, said at the press conference.
“Young entrepreneurs are vital to China’s development. Encouraging the establishment of small businesses is part of the traditional employment pattern, but also a great way to stimulate young people’s enthusiasm for innovation,” he said.
A collection of success stories aided by YBC is available on the official website of the Entrepreneur Classroom campaign.
Among them is the story of Xia Daozhu, who set up Beijing Canzhilian Food & Beverage in 2005 to fill a niche in the market.
After completing his master’s degree at Tianjin University, Xia worked at a gene research center in Beijing. Soon after joining he noticed that although his colleagues liked dinner boxes there was no delivery company in the area.
After successfully pitching his idea for a fast-food firm to YBC’s Beijing branch he was awarded a 50,000-yuan start-up fund and the services of a business mentor.
“With a little courage we can do anything,” Xia said.
The company now employs more than 20 people and its next target is to grow it sales to 1,000 boxes per day, he said.
责编：庞帅
