Local government paves path for youths to start businesses at hometown

Workers in the workshop polish the ladder-board surfaces. [Photo by Liang Shaoting for chinadaily.com.cn]

In a start-up workshop in the Baicaiwangzhuang village, Maji town, Dingtao district of Heze city in Shandong province, workers were busily sticking and polishing ladder-board surfaces. 

The workshop was filled with finished products and semi-finished goods piled up high, and the workers were responsible for drilling holes and assembling them. Polishing was bustling around in an orderly manner. 

"We mainly process and sell wooden products online, which are trendy and sell very well. We also have another workshop in the nearby Yaotang village. Between the two workshops, we can employ more than 50 people, with an annual sales income reaching over 10 million yuan ($1.4 million)." said Dong Shuo, the person in charge of the workshop.

Five years ago, when Dong, who had been working in Beijing for more than 10 years, learned that his hometown had introduced an entrepreneurship support policy, he was determined to return to his hometown to start a business.

The town government provided policy support and helped him locate the factory site. When he was in a dilemma, the town government once again extended a helping hand to him, helping him apply for a support loan, which got him out of the financial predicament.

Maji town has introduced policies to encourage capable individuals outside the village to return to their hometowns for development. Up until now, 42 projects have been submitted, encouraging the high-quality development of the local micro-economy. (Edited by Huang Junyao)