Sino-Russian Association of Young Entrepreneurs Hosts Seminar at SPbPU

Polytechnic University has established a student public organization, International Center for Promotion of Entrepreneurship of Foreign Graduates and Students (the Center), the main purpose of which is to assist in organizing consulting for SPbPU graduates and students on entrepreneurship and promotion of technological developments on the market.

At the end of February, at the invitation of the International Activity Resource Center, the Sino-Russian Young Entrepreneurs Association (SRYEA) held a consulting seminar on the results of the analysis of opportunities to promote SPbPU’s scientific services and innovative developments to the Chinese market, as well as mechanisms to promote entrepreneurship of foreign graduates and students of SPbPU. The seminar was attended by about 50 Chinese graduates, undergraduate and postgraduate students of Polytechnic University and other universities of St. Petersburg. Anton Zhukov, Deputy Chairman of the Association, a graduate of SPbPU conducted the seminar. Anton told about the goals, objectives and activities of KRAMP, mechanisms of assistance in the development and realization of new ideas and projects. The Association periodically organizes competitions to discover new talents and identify the best business projects.

The analysis conducted by the Association showed that in China and in St. Petersburg a large number of specialized organizations providing support to young entrepreneurs have been created. For example, in Shanghai, the Jiading Pioneer Park for Foreign Students has been created, which currently employs more than 1000 foreign students and operates more than 300 foreign student enterprises. And for the Student Entrepreneurship Incubation Center in Qingdao City, a 17-story building was recently built to house at least 200 student startups and attract more than 2,000 university students to start businesses and find jobs in business. Floors 1 to 3 are comprehensive service areas that provide business start-up counseling, small guaranteed loans, training, and networking support, while floors 4 to 17 are business incubator areas with more than 350 spaces reserved for office and production space for permanent student and alumni companies.

In St. Petersburg, there are large St. Petersburg and Lenpoligrafmash technoparks, Ingria Business Incubator, Boiling Point-St. Petersburg, Center for Development and Support of Entrepreneurship, Fund for Assistance to Crediting Small and Medium Businesses-Microcredit Company and others.

The students also learned about technological platforms for promoting scientific and technological services and innovative developments in China, structures supporting technological transfer, requirements for the so-called «packaging» of projects for commercialization, and much more. At the seminar the participants were told about the annual International Acceleration Program BRICS Business Incubator, which will be announced soon and this year. Participants in the program in 2024 will be entrepreneurs aged 18 to 40 from Russia, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia. Several dozen winners will receive substantial funding to realize their business projects.

The seminar participants also talked to SPbPU alumni who are currently engaged in entrepreneurial activities: Lei Shen, who is a serial entrepreneur, i.e. a person who has created more than one successful business, and Kangqi Chen, CEO of the newly established company Morning Light and others.

Entrepreneurship is a pretty hard thing to do, says Kanqi, especially if you live in another country. Even fairly simple things about setting up your own business can be a big and sometimes insurmountable challenge. That’s why such structures as the International Center for Entrepreneurship Assistance to Foreign Alumni and Students of Polytechnic University is a very good support for guys who want to create their own business. Yes, there are quite a lot of structures supporting budding entrepreneurs, but from my experience I can say that it is not always possible to enter them and get the necessary help. The SPbPU Center tries to work with everyone.