At a regular Ministry of Education press conference, Wu Yan, Minister of Education, claims that they encourage undergraduates to establish businesses by suspending studies.
“The entrepreneurship rate of Chinese graduates has reached three percent, which is almost double that of the number in other developed countries,” says Wu. “We believe the experience fits well with higher education. Therefore, we encourage entrepreneurship and will continue promoting innovation.”
Although it is quite popular among undergraduates, few of them are willing to slow down the study to launch their own businesses. According to Reports on Entrepreneurship of Chinese Undergraduates of 2016 released by Renmin University of China, 89.8 percent of undergraduates have intention of becoming an entrepreneur, while only 5.5 percent of them dare to put off their studies to do so.
It is totally understandable that most college students don’t want to take that leap of faith, since there are enormous risks. According to the statistics released last year, the success rate of entrepreneurship is less than two percent while the success rate of entrepreneurship during college can be as low as 0.5 percent.
Hong Ku, a junior at Nanjing Institute of Technology, has just finished his gap year and returned to the school. Two years ago, he built up his own company with great ambition. However, things didn’t go as well as expected. “I regretted my decision. It was a huge waste of time,” says Hong.
Nevertheless, not every college entrepreneur’s efforts are in vain. Huang Huan, another student at Nanjing Institute of Technology, made up his mind to establish an advertising agency. His parents are both farmers, so he only had RMB70, 000 as start-up capital. After a year, he already made a profit of over 7 million.
After all, Huang’s success is one in a million. To most students, the unique experience of entrepreneurship not only enriches their life, but it also helps them figure out what they want to do with their lives.
