Leaders of the future

Sun Shaoyun's victory at the Xinfei 2009 Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) national competition in Shanghai was nothing compared to the feeling of knowing she and her classmates had helped create better opportunities for those in need.

Sun and other students from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies won the top prize at the national leg of the international competition, which encourages the development of practical projects based on the principles of a globalized market economy in order to find real solutions to everyday community problems.

Their project saw the construction of an economically sustainable and environmentally friendly garden tourist site in the southern Guangdong countryside for local villagers. The farmers, who were lacking the professional knowledge and skills to improve their poor living conditions, were trained on how to properly sustain the garden.