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Year in and year out: angel investor training in Zhongguancun
( chinadaily.com.cn )
Updated: 2016-01-22

Beijing's Zhongguancun just said farewell to a group of special students after a one year training program and has received another 52 trainees, according to the park administrator.

The fourth batch of students --- leaders with companies such as Alibaba, Tecent, Baidu, Microsoft and JD.com --- will join the training camp for angel investors.

"There are more than 300, 000 angel investors in the U.S. and 70,000 in Silicon Valley alone,"said Xu Yong, executive director and initiator of the camp, "but in Zhongguancun, the most active place for angel investors in China, the number is just a little bit over 10, 000."

Xu estimated that the total number of angel investors in the country is no more than 15, 000.

"The aim of the camp is to cultivate new angel investors to promote the development of the whole industry." Xu said.

In the training camp, trainees learn how to analyze trends, how to use those practical skills and how to find the right people for their companies. Most of the tutors are famous angel investors and professionals.

In the first half of the training program, students have intensive trainings in law and investment. In the second half, students have one-on-one and group discussions with supervisors.

In 2015, around 1213 angel investments --- reaching up to 9.4 billion yuan ($ 1.4 billion) --- were made in the Zhongguancun area, accounting for nearly 41 percent of the whole country.

"In the next stage, we will improve the three-dimensional class model and open new camps in other cities likeShanghai." Xu Yong added.