NE China helping e-commerce startups
By Wang Zhen
2015-04-16
The city of Changchun, capital of Jilin province, has decided to give young entrepreneurs a helping hand in setting up a business, thanks to China's rapidly growing economy which has produced a large number of young people interested in becoming an entrepreneur.
And, a number of them, especially in the southern part of China, have found a niche market or the right support to go into business in private sectors. One example comes from Wu Hongdao, who has shown great determination and good sense in the e-commerce business in the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province where e-business has been well-developed.
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Training session at Changchun e-business Park, on April 10. [Photo by Lin Hong/Xinhua] |
However, when Wu decided to return to his hometown, Changchun two years ago, things were pretty disappointing, and, in his words, "It was really tough because the business environment was no good, with no people, no goods, no market,and I was thinking that I might give up on trying to run my own e-business."
But, things began turning around for Wu in 2014, when he set up a company in a youth e-business park. "I'm planning on running a flagship store for Jilin agricultural products at tmall.com," he explains, referring to one of the biggest business-to-customer (B2C) online operation, affiliated with the Alibaba group, and then continues to say, "Things are moving ahead so far thanks to the government's support and I'm waiting for company accreditation."
That help from the local government. Started with the city's Communist Youth League, the youth e-business park gives young entrepreneurs a range of support, including office space, training, and access to networking, which has benefited not just Wu, but many other 20-somethings.
Xiao Di, head of the youth league's youth startups program, explains that they started the program last year, to encourage young people to contribute to local business and to help set a good example for others, then goes on to say, "We recognize that young people can contribute a lot to the city's business in the future and the best way is to put them together online combined with off-line discussion or training sessions. And we hope more young people will follow suit."
The government organization also helps bring social resources together for convenience, such as contacting Alibaba, or express delivery companies, or telecommunication companies.
So, now, Wu says he feels a lot more confident about his e-business which has worked with a manufacturer in Jilin province which put 600,000 yuan ($96,600) into the business. And, the young boss makes full use of his time by taking e-commerce classes with his team members and other entrepreneurs.
The youth e-business park has attracted 20 startups and created several dozen shops that handle software R&D, training, creative design and cloud computing — all with the local government's help.
