Harbin to Support College Entrepreneurs

Heilongjiang province has announced that it has come up with guidelines for college student entrepreneurs, as of Sept 7, with policies to support them in starting a business and which allow them to write a feasibility analysis or business study, in lieu of the conventional graduation thesis, and get first-hand information from factories or enterprises and use it for their own business.

The government is also asking higher education institutions to provide more cross-discipline courses and practice-oriented programs for students, and change traditional teaching methods with the help of the Internet and information technology.

In addition, compulsory entrepreneurship courses and tailored training programs are designed by colleges and universities for those wanting to start a business.

The province is asking colleges and universities to establish a fund of at least 200 million yuan ($31.3 million) annually to support these training programs, with a part of it for scholarships in innovation and startups. It will also get part-time supervisors to guide the students in their innovation and entrepreneurships. The first group of 1,000 will be in place by the end of this year, with the number expected to reach 3,000 over the next three years. They will help the students to make commercial use of their ideas and findings.

The local education department will sponsor competitions in innovation and entrepreneurial skills to help with commercializing any research results and create more jobs. And the third week of September will be a “College Makers Week”, to give publicity to the students and business starters at school. And people from education institutions, enterprises, and organizations will lecture at forums. The province will also build 1,000 incubators for college entrepreneurs in three years and get colleges and universities to provide financial aid, technical guidance and incubation services, as well as premises for free or at a low price.

The government also mentioned the “Internet Plus”, a new buzzword in China, and emphasized its role in mass innovation and entrepreneurships by combing online and offline approaches, as well as incubation services and market investment. The guidelines call for any student, except for postgraduates, to be allowed time off to attend to their business and for a more flexible education system that allows them to retain their student status for eight years.