Alumni Fund for Tsinghua University

Tsinghua University set up its first alumni fund to assist its students in starting their own business on Wednesday.

The newly established Tsinghua University alumni seeds fund has a basic investment of 30 million yuan ($4.9m) from 20 alumni. Tsinghua Holdings Co., Ltd., the solely state-owned limited liability corporation funded by Tsinghua University, also participated and supported the fund.

The supported program team must have at least one member studying in Tsinghua or recently graduated.

It is a new featured brand for the innovation and start-up education on the campus, bearing a great significance in encouraging youth, Chen Jining, president of Tsinghua University, said at the launching ceremony.

More and more entrepreneurs will emerge and become the backbone forces in society, those who decide the development trend of society, Chen said. This also requires the cultivation of our students, the younger generation, he added.

Angel investor Li Zhu said the fund sets five permanent guiders, including himself, to select items presented by young people and give them one-to-one consultation.

Li, who graduated in 1989 with a computer major, said young entrepreneurs must analyze the market trend, and acquire knowledge about designation, promotion and team management.

In this period, the start-up education is irreplaceable and vital for them, not only in training, but also in the systematic solutions of employment and resources coordination, Li added.

At the ceremony, the Tsinghua Fund Council, Communist Youth League Committee of the university and the Magic Entrepreneur College signed a contract offering students public classes on start-up businesses.

Sheng Jia, a 2002 graduate, shared his story of business start-ups.

"At the beginning, I chose a comparatively conservative industry, which was sensible to me," Sheng said. "However, the industrial structure, designation, even some decisions have problems."

Tsinghua University held the first contest for start-ups in 1999, the first in the whole country. So far, it has an entrepreneur class system in several colleges, a teacher engaged in training at the Communist Youth League Committee of the university said.