Student representatives receive books on career advice at the opening ceremony on Monday, Sept. 28. (Photo: ECNS/Qian Ruisha)
(ECNS) -- Fifty student journalists from all over the country will be selected to join a guided tour of Shenzhen's top companies, startups and business incubators from October 14 to 18.
The event, initiated by Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League (SMCCYL), Shenzhen Ministry of Resources and Social Security and Beijing Youth Daily, and co-hosted by Shenzhen Federation of Youth Entrepreneurship Promotion and National Campus Media Union, was launched at a press conference in Beijing on Monday.
Shenzhen, a coastal city in southern China's Guangdong province, wants the students to feel its vibe as a center of startups and businesses.
"Talent acquisition is one of our top priorities," said Huang Xiaopeng, deputy secretary of SMCCYL at the opening ceremony. "We welcome young people with talent to come and stay in Shenzhen."
The city lies just across the bay from Hong Kong and has long been on the frontline of China's opening up policy.
In recent years, it has become the center of creativity and innovation. Emerging industries with strategic importance contribute to nearly 35 percent of the city's GDP growth with volume amounting to 1.9 trillion yuan ($306 billion). In the first half of 2015, R&D input took up 4 percent of Shenzhen's GDP total.
It boasts of four Fortune 500 companies, namely Huawei Tech. Investment Co., China Pingan Insurance Group, China Merchants Bank and Amer International Group. The number of tech firms in the city amounts to 30,000.
Shenzhen has been endeavoring to attract talented graduates. It launched a program in which the government purchases bedrooms and offers them to graduates who just arrive in Shenzhen without charge. The service has provided free lodging to over 3,000 since 2014.
Besides, over 9,000 graduates have found internships through the program.
Shenzhen has launched eight business incubators, providing space for 109 startups, of which 49 teams are from Hong Kong.
According to Wu Junjun, Director of Shenzhen Employment Promotion and Unemployment Insurance Division, the city also embraces a startup boom with favorable policies such as loan thresholds and stipends for hiring unemployed workers.
Campus journalists interested in the tour could sign up online by October 3. Selected students will be announced on October 9.
