Li pledges to help startups

Government seeks opinions from representatives on its work report

Premier Li Keqiang pledged more policies to facilitate startup businesses, a move that would promote innovation and ease job-hunting worries of college graduates.

The premier promised better support from the government for student entrepreneurs facing difficult job-hunting prospects, and he said their perseverance will lead to larger possibilities of success when building up businesses.

Li made the pledge at a forum on Friday, where the government sought opinions from representatives in science, education, culture, medicine and sports as well as from migrant workers and young business owners.

Nearly 7.3 million graduates of Chinese colleges will enter the job market in June, not to mention those returning from overseas study. The number will be 280,000 more than 2013, which was considered the hardest year to find a job by some analysts, due to the global economic downturn.

After hearing opinions from Han Lei, a university student and entrepreneur who operates a filmmaking workshop in Beijing, Li said the government will formulate a program to support business startups by university graduates.

Han told Li that it is still difficult for him to apply for tax exemption and other government support.

"Sometimes the procedures are too complicated for an outsider who knows little about the issue, while sometimes we don't even know that there is a favorable policy designed for us," he said. "Better communication between entrepreneurs and government agencies is needed."

However, Lyu Xuejing, a social security expert at Capital University of Economics and Business, warned that despite examples of success, starting a business is not the best way out for those students who are not prepared for the difficulties.

A student who decides to start up a business should be equipped with the requisite knowledge, better capabilities, more ideas and adequate capital, she said.

"Only a small number of graduates are qualified to start their own business. The government should speed up economic restructuring to create more job opportunities that are suitable for a college graduate," she said.

Although the content of the report will not be released until the annual session of the National People's Congress in March, Li said science, education, culture, health and sports will be given more emphasis in the report than in previous years.

"The purpose of the country's development is to serve the people's material and cultural demands. Without progress in science, education, culture, health and sports, our development will not be a comprehensive one, and is unsustainable," he said.

In response to words from a farmer from Hunan province and a migrant worker from Jiangsu province, Li said the government will pay attention to solving their difficulties, and the representatives' comments will be taken into account in improving the State Council's annual Government Work Report.

Contact the writer at zhaoyinan@chinadaily.com.cn

Li Xiang contributed to this story.