The 6th Fu Chong Youth Entrepreneurship Forum was held in UIC on 14 November. Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC and President of the China Association of Women Entrepreneurs, Ms Li Dang, as well as founder and chairman of Zhuhai Yunzhou Intelligence Technology Co. Ltd, Mr Zhang Yunfei, were invited speakers to encourage young entrepreneurs to overcome difficulties and to forge forward. This Forum is advised by Zhuhai Municipal Committee of Communist Youth League, supported by Zhuhai Hi-tech Innovation and Entrepreneurship Service Centre, and hosted by UIC.
Ms Li Dang shared her experience and insight of her life in business management. From a textile worker who graduated from high school to a government official and a manager of a state-owned enterprise, she worked very hard and succeeded in different fields. She mentioned that young people should practically train their abilities, accumulate experience, and dare to take responsibility. Ms Li also believes that enterprises should re-examine and determine their development strategies with a global perspective to cope with intense competition.
Ms Li Dang shares her experience and insight
One of 2014 Top 100 World Innovative Youth, Mr Zhang Yunfei mentioned in his speech that when you do one thing to the extreme, and then there would be value. Up to now, he has already led a team to develop unmanned ships in China, which are widely used in water quality monitoring, hydrological mapping and many other fields. He believes that UIC provides students' with broad space to try various things, which is helpful for their development, and he encouraged students to accumulate experience and face setbacks optimistically.
Mr Zhang Yunfei inspires students to try different things
President Tang Tao and Vice President Mao Yaqing present mementoes to Ms Li Dang and Mr Zhang Yunfei
Member of the Party Committee and Executive Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Zhuhai Hi-tech Zone, Mr Liu Hong, said in his speech that Zhuhai has superior location advantages and development prospects. He encouraged students to respond actively to the mass entrepreneurship and innovation initiative as well as to develop their careers in the Zhuhai Hi-tech Zone.
Deputy Secretary of the Zhuhai Committee of the Communist Youth League, Mr Lin Xiaojun, suggested that young entrepreneurs should seize the current opportunities to endeavour and to break new grounds in challenges.
President of UIC Prof Tang Tao said in his speech that Fu Chong is the ancient name of the famous historical and cultural town of Tangjiawan. Today, Tangjiawan has formed a hi-tech cultural corridor which is supported by higher education and integrates software research and development, comprehensive services and cultural tourism.
Prof Tang said he hoped that the forum would link the innovative ideas of entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial youth, investors and teachers and students from all walks of life, and play its due role in integrating the Greater Bay Area's innovation and entrepreneurship cooperation.
UIC President Prof Tang Tao giving a speech at the forum
Prof Tang also mentioned that UIC is the entrepreneur of the new cooperative education mode, both domestically and globally. Many entrepreneurial teams of UIC also started from campus associations or projects, and after several years of development, they have cut figures in various industries.
Before the forum, the Jingniuhui Cup - the Third UIC Fu Chong Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, as well as the Award ceremony of Jingniuhui Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition College League of Zhuhai Hi-tech Zone, were held. A total of 377 projects were recruited in the latter competition worldwide.
Awarded projects of the Third UIC Fuchong Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
Executive Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Zhuhai Hi-tech Zone, Mr Liu Hong; Deputy Secretary of the Zhuhai Committee of the Communist Youth League, Mr Lin Xiaojun; Secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee of Hi-tech Zone, Ms Chen Dan; Director of Zhuhai Human Resources and Employment Service Centre, Mr Pan Jiejun; Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre of The University of Macau and mentor of Hong Kong and Macao Entrepreneurship in Zhuhai Hi-tech Zone, Mr Yan Zhihong; and UIC Vice Presidents Prof Mao Yaqing, Prof Jia Wejia and Associate Vice President Prof Stella Cho awarded prizes to the winning entrepreneurial teams.
Awarded projects of Jingniuhui Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition College League of Zhuhai Hi-tech Zone
Bringing out the best with entrepreneurships
UIC cultivates students' comprehensive abilities. At the same time, entrepreneurships can help students gain the organisational capability, acquire their own judgments for the market, teamwork skills and personal improvements aside from their studies. Meanwhile, the college also holds entrepreneurship salons regularly by inviting local entrepreneurs to help students to tackle their problems and receive comments on their projects.
Up to 11 student project teams settled in the innovation and entrepreneurship service platform established by the collage covered various fields including 3D medical treatment, cultural innovation, agricultural poverty alleviation, new media, environmental protection, education, etc. Specialised service teams assist these teams in daily management and with full-time instructors in providing support in activities, training and resource docking.
UIC's Yilan Culture Project is one of the projects settled in the platform. At the forum, Yang Jiang, the leader of this project and also a third-year student majored in Accounting, introduced their entrepreneurial experience. Yilan Culture targeted at the batik technique using bluegrass as a raw material in Guizhou to break the limitations of the intangible culture and bring traditional blue dyeing culture into modern life.
Yang Jiang, the leader of Yilan Culture, introduces their entrepreneurship
The team integrated the blue dyeing resources and built the intangible cultural brand from three directions: teaching, tourism and cultural creation. The project earned an Outstanding Winner Prize in the Guangdong Provincial Competition of the 10th National College Student Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship Competition 2020. At this forum, the team designed exclusive souvenirs for the speakers on behalf of UIC.
Mike Lu, Director of UIC's Innovation Centre as well as Acting Director of the Information Technology Service Centre, said that the community-based entrepreneurship is the characteristic of UIC's student entrepreneurship. These projects keep absorbing fresh blood, and they will continue to precipitate and be carried on by junior students after seniors' graduations.
Students' entrepreneurial team sharing their experiences
The WeChair project, initiated by the Enactus student association, recycles and reuses PVC lamp cloth posters discarded from colleges and universities through product design and development. The leader of the team, Hu Jia'an, who is also a second-year student majoring in Finance, said that this is a social enterprise project to alleviate white pollution, in which every member is very motivated.
WeChair team members
During the process of starting a business, the team also received support from various departments of the college when they encountered problems relating to product design, negotiation and capital turnover. Hu Jia'an has accumulated rich experience from this entrepreneurial practice, and also realised the importance of customer needs, the sustainable development of products, as well as core competitiveness when starting a business.
Fook team members
Chen Zhuo, a fresh graduate student from Public Relations and Advertising, who is also the founder of Fook, a service platform for college students. Fook was established in 2017, which combines online and offline services, and develops mini-programs and apps to meet various needs of college students. In 2019, they received 400,000 yuan of early-stage financing. During the entrepreneurship, they also received guidance on operation and investment from UIC. Chen Zhuo said that UIC has great innovation atmosphere with fewer constraints and more space, and entrepreneurs have more opportunities to try.
From MPRO
Photographers: Wang Jiaqi, Xu Yiheng, Fu Chong Youth Entrepreneurship Forum Committee
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He, Ma Yiran, Xia Meng
