Schoolwork and startups align to benefit students

Li Hui started his own business after entering Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics as freshman in 2010.

The 23-year-old opened a suit shop near the campus in Hangzhou, selling business suits to students for job interviews. He opened three more branches in the city within two years, making an average of 40,000 yuan ($6,400) in monthly net profit.

That was then.

Now he is general manager of Haining Wushierli E-commerce Co, making more than 4 million yuan a month.

"My awareness of starting my own business came up so early because the atmosphere at the university encouraged us to do so," Li said, adding that the university held seminars and workshops to help students with their businesses.

By the end of this year, the university has established talent cooperation relationships with more than 2,000 companies. The companies will recruit qualified graduates from the university on a regular basis. In 2012, alumni created a startup fund of 15 million yuan to support students in starting their own businesses.

Meanwhile, it invited 13 alumni entrepreneurs as innovation and startup coaches to give lectures to students.

"The university has attached great importance to cultivating innovation awareness and the spirit of starting a businesses of students," said university President Li Jinchang. "We will continue to strengthen reforms in educational systems to better service the students by establishing more innovation practicing platforms."

Li said that the university encourages students to start programs that can combine their professional knowledge with businesses to raise the competitiveness of their programs.

According to the university, student startup projects include express delivery, garment rental, flower sales and book sales. If the students can accumulate sufficient course credits for graduation, the university encourages them to devote all the time to their own businesses.

"Doing business and studying are not contradictory. Our students can learn from actual practice," Li said. "Also, our alumni are important resources. They provide startup funds to our students and tutor them in actual practice. This is what we call the alumni effect."

The university started an incubator for startup projects with Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University, Zhejiang, on Dec 1. A total of 11 projects initiated by students were chosen to enter the program. Each project was granted a coach from a well-known enterprise.

Ding Lejuan is a junior of the university in the e-business department. Her startup program, one of the 11 selected, has already received angel investments of 5 million yuan.

"What the school did is continuously encourage and help us to turn our dreams into reality," she said.

Her program, a calendar designed for students who are preparing for graduate entrance exams, has already had more than 1 million customers.