Raz Galor is an Israeli who came to Beijing in 2012 to study at Peking University. Three years later, he started up his own business in online video programs in China's capital. He now has millions of fans across Chinese social media after five years of development.

"Many young foreign graduates can obtain a stable company job with a decent salary in China. However, more often than ever before, they now choose to start up their own businesses." Galor said in a youth story sharing session held in Beijing on December 20.

Since 2014, China has been driving forward a nationwide initiative spurring on entrepreneurship and innovation to boost market vitality as well as people's creativity. "It is not a slogan; people really do that. It is the charm of China," Galor said.

This year, the outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in a heavy impact on the world economy. China tightened restrictive measures to control the virus from the very get-go and introduced measures including tax relief, and cuts in interest rate to boost economic recovery when the situation got better.

"Thanks to these effective measures, right now both the living and economic environment in China are much better when compared to those in other countries," Svetlana Skorikova, a Russian girl who works for an international organization in Beijing told Beijing Review.

Korean youth Kim Junbum founded his company, The Korean Peninsula Technology Co., Ltd., last year after graduating from Peking University. His business is to promote talent exchange between China and South Korea. His company has offered entrepreneurship training to more than 800 Chinese and Korean youths, linking up more than 40 Korean startups and cooperating on 11 online projects during the epidemic.

He told Beijing Review China provides ample opportunities in the field of entrepreneurship, not only for the Chinese youth, but also for those who are from the outside. The Haidian District Government in Beijing provides young entrepreneurs with free office space. And during the pandemic outbreak, it also offered them free online courses. "China finds itself in good economic surroundings with ample supporting policies, and I want more Korean youth entrepreneurs to learn about these and find their opportunities in China." 

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon 

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