第十三届海峡青年论坛:呼吁年轻人到内地创业

Investors are calling on young talents in Taiwan to start their businesses on the Chinese mainland at the ongoing 13th Straits Youth Forum.

CRI's Luo Yu reports from Xiamen.

At the forum, investors urge more youth in Taiwan to consider the mainland as the ideal place to start their business ventures.

Scott Zheng is one of China's best known angel investors. He explains why the Chinese mainland is a land of opportunity for youngsters in Taiwan.

'Honestly, Taiwan might be your focus at the initial stage. Yet I hope that you will broaden your minds and embrace the Chinese mainland, because the mainland is a massive market and it'll maintain the momentum of rapid economic development in the coming 20 years, though we might see some fine-tuning or adjustments.'

However, entrepreneurs have to be aware of the differences in start-up culture between the mainland and Taiwan. Dai Zhouying, CA Ventures Managing Partner, is one of those who first invested on the island.

'In Taiwan, a lot of entrepreneurs have done a great job in lean operations, even in Asia, due to the limited market size. Business owners have to make great strides to optimize their operations to improve their efficiency thereby increasing profit margins. In contrast, on the mainland, entrepreneurs lay more emphasis on the pace and the scale of their businesses because their projects will serve 1.3 billion potential customers.'

A Taiwan college student named Jiang Zhu-Hsiang started his bio-technical company in Fujian a couple of months ago. He maps out the future of his business.

'I think there are two things I found very charming on the Chinese mainland. One is the humongous amount of venture capital and the other is the government support. Now we have held talks with the high-tech zone in Xiamen. In the future, we hope to establish a lab that runs on a daily basis, and promote our business idea at the same time.'

Lin Yi Yuan, a college girl form Taichung, says the mainland offers more favorable policies for student entrepreneurs.

'The business environment for start-ups is better that that in Taiwan. Besides large capital, universities will provide offices for their students. I've asked a student in Hangzhou and she said that it's more of a tendency here in mainland.

Offices, water, electricity are all free and there is start-up fund for the project. I think it's very good. In Taiwan, we don't have this policy yet.'

The business environment seems captivating for start-ups following Premier Li Keqiang's remarks to encourage mass innovation to counter the downward pressure and boost the economy. But Vincent Wang, chairman of Sunsino Venture Group in Taiwan, says entrepreneurs should be cautious of the challenges ahead.

'There is a lot potential to start their businesses, but there are still legal constraints. Such as the ICP license, also the joint venture agreement, stuff like that. And also the exit for the IPO market. They the obstacles that have to be overcome.'

This year's forum highlights innovation and creativity among young people across the straits. More than 60 percent of the participants come from Taiwan.

As an important part of the 7th Straits Forum, the Straits Youth Forum aims to encourage young talents to realize their potential on the 'broad stage' of cross-Strait cooperation.

For CRI, I'm Luo Yu reporting in Xiamen.