Beijing-based Zhongguancun, a high-tech zone praised as China's "Silicon Valley", has become a great attraction to the Chinese who have studied or are studying abroad, Beijing Daily reported Wednesday.
A delegation of 106 Chinese studying in the United States, Canada, Japan and European countries recently paid a visit to the Zhongguancun Scientific and Technological Zone (ZSTZ) in pursuit of business opportunities, the newspaper said.
Bringing with them 100-plus high-tech projects, the delegates searching for local partners highlighted the enthusiasm of those studying abroad and those having finished overseas studies in starting a business at the Zhongguancun.
According to the newspaper, a total of 4,376 returned Chinese who have studied abroad are working in the zone at the end of the year, an increase of 216 percent from 1999, and businesses started by some of them numbered 1,546, a five-fold growth from the 1999 level of 1,295.
These businesses, with 1.5 billion yuan (US$180.72 million) in combined registered capital and 35,000 employees, accounted for 10 percent of the total number of new- and high-tech enterprises in the zone.
The newspaper attributed the business-startup rush among returned Chinese who have studied overseas to the ZSTZ's efforts to improve services, including preferential policies and financial support, for the business opportunity seekers.
Profitability of businesses started up by those returned Chinese tend to grow year by year, the newspaper said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2002)
