Overseas students explore startup landscapes in Hangzhou

The Belt and Road Initiative Entrepreneurial Center of Foreign Students is located in the Cross-Border Trading Town in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

As the summer holidays come to an end, an entrepreneurial center in the Cross-Border Trading Town in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province is abuzz with a bunch of foreign students who are about to start their own businesses in the city.

Spanning across 50 square meters, the center provides a platform for overseas students, many of which are from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, to learn how to start companies and seek business opportunities in China.

Bermal, 25, is a Turkish student studying international trade at Zhejiang University. She came up with the idea of exporting Chinese products to Turkey when she found that the price of the ore screen mesh in China is more competitive than that of in Germany.

I've always wanted to come to China to do business and fortunately I found about the Cross-Border Trading Town. The staff here are really helpful in guiding us how to open a business and start a company, said Bermal, adding that she opened her company two to three months after arriving.

James, another student from Uganda, has been in Hangzhou for six years. Last year, he successfully registered his company which was among the first batch of foreign-invested companies in the trading town.

He noted that starting from last December, Hangzhou has implemented seven exit and entry policies and measures to provide policy traction and policy guarantees for the acquiring of high-caliber foreign professionals.

Over the years, Hangzhou has witnessed an increase in the number of overseas students. The entrepreneurial center is designed not only as a platform for overseas students to engage in business in China, but also to cultivate the trading partners of China in the future.

The Cross-Border Trading Town officially opened its business in Hangzhou in 2016. It is the first imported commodity e-commerce experience area established in China since the city became the country's first cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone.

To date, more than 300 foreign students from 70 countries have come to learn about cross-border trade in the town.

Overseas students discuss about how to start a business at an entrepreneurial center in the Cross-Border Trading Town in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]