Entrepreneurship is alive and well in China

Li Peiyu, a college graduate, is pictured at her store selling stewed pork, in Luohe, Henan province, Oct 22, 2013. Li graduated from Xi'an Polytechnic University. [Photo/IC]

China has become an increasingly entrepreneurial society, and the post-1980s generation has become the driving force, according to new findings from the National Entrepreneurship Research Center of Tsinghua University.

They show that China ranked 22nd among 70 countries examined by the university, with the country's "early-stage startup index" calculated at 18 percent, meaning the nation is considered as "active" when it comes to entrepreneurship.

The researchers worked out a country's early-stage startup index after collecting various financial and behavioral information during interviews with entrepreneurs with fewer than 42 months' experience.

The study showed that the post-1980s generation in China has been the most active entrepreneurs' group, with an early-stage startup index of 21.3 percent, compared with 14.3 percent for the post-1990s generation.

"Both the Chinese post-1980s generation and the post-1990s generation regard entrepreneurship as a good career choice, and their entrepreneurial motivation is to seek opportunities rather than just survive," said Gao Jian, director of the research center.

The report showed 31.1 percent of the post-90s generation interviewed said they had managed to set up their own business within three years.

Gao said younger Chinese startups paid most attention to creating products that filled a gap, and targeting the global market.

According to the findings, 77.7 percent of young entrepreneurs (aged 18 to 44) had created what were considered novel products, while that percent for all entrepreneurs (18 to 64) dropped to 62.7 percent.

The younger entrepreneurs, maybe surprisingly, however, do not appear to have embraced the new technology age, with less than 2 percent of young startups choosing to launch what might be considered a high tech business.

The report also showed that of early-stage startups, just under one quarter had global clients, compared with 23.2 percent for all entrepreneurs. The younger startups also reported having a higher standard of living and earnings than their older counterparts.

Figures from Zero2IPO Group show ed that 1,873 venture capital deals were completed during the first 11 months of last year, around 60 percent of which were investing in business startups.