Startups flourish as zone targets students

The Special Entrepreneurial and Innovative Zone of Tianjin attracted 1,781 startups in its first six months of operations, according to local officials.

The figures, by March 21, mean that an average of about 300 new businesses were set up there every month.

Local administrators predicted that 23 of these businesses have the potential to grow rapidly into big enterprises that will each pay annual taxes exceeding 10 million yuan ($1.52 million).

Opening on Sept 21 last year, the special zone is located in Tianjin Binhai New Area - the central business district of the Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone.

To support the special zone's growth, the government has set aside 1 billion yuan for a development fund and has released 10 supporting policies relating to investment promotion, talent recruitment and training, and preferential rentals as well as developing maker spaces.

According to local administrators, 10 maker spaces have been established in the zone and are ready to offer about 800 projects for business startups.

There are also companies that provide job-seeking and entrepreneurship services for university students and graduates.

Vmicro Media, for example, has offered mobile internet services to 10 million students and graduates worldwide, helping them build connections with its business clients, which include China Unicom, Lenovo, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and International Chinese Network Inc.

Zhang Jingyi, CEO of Vmicro Media, said the special zone offers "a solid foundation for innovation and entrepreneurship".

"By offering top-notch office facilities, comfortable apartments, a favorable tax policy, as well as effective administrative and financial services, the Special Entrepreneurial and Innovative Zone of Tianjin is giving budding entrepreneurs and ambitious companies a dedicated center to develop ideas into business," Zhang said.

The special zone has easy access to a well-developed transport network.

It takes about one hour to travel from the zone to the center of Beijing on expressways and high-speed trains. Tianjin is also the biggest shipping hub in North China.

"Considering all the advantages here, we have planned to expand our business to offer better services to Chinese students and graduates all over the world," Zhang said.

(China Daily 06/25/2016 page26)