Budding young global entrepreneurs flock to Yiwu

Yiwu in Zheijang province is celebrating the successful launch of a program designed to lure more highly-skilled overseas workers to start e-commerce businesses and seek entrepreneurship in the city, after attracting a total of 226 foreign youths in its first three months.

"I will start up my own foreign trade businesses in Yiwu soon," said a Mexican participant of the "Run with Yiwu-Global Youth Business Program," which has attracted young people from 53 countries including the Czech Republic, Mexico, Italy, Spain and Zimbabwe. 

The program is open to global participants aged 18-30, who are given a thorough introduction of business practices in the e-commerce world through the internships that they take.

"Yiwu boasts a rich entrepreneurial climate, all we need is a computer and a network cable to sell quality products to the world," the Mexican young lady explained, a graduate from Zhejiang Gongshang University who majored in international trade and finance.

"Each entrepreneur engaged in the program is trained by individual mentors in the areas of customer service, website design and market planning," said Liu Pingjuan, one of the experienced entrepreneurs in Yiwu as well as being a mentor of the program, adding that she is looking for top managerial staff who are familiar with e-commerce for the overseas branches of her own company.

According to the official statistics, a total of 2,060 foreign-funded companies initiated by young entrepreneurs had registered in Yiwu by the end of the first quarter of this year.