Survey paints rosy picture of returnees' startups in Shanghai

Ti Gong

More than 60 percent of startups created in Shanghai by returning Chinese who have studied abroad became profitable in their first to third years, according to a report about the entrepreneurial ecosystems for returnees released on Wednesday.

The report – Returnees Index of Shanghai Ecosystem 300 – is the first of its kind produced by the Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Shanghai Foreign Service Group and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

The findings in the report were made in a survey that looked into the city's business environment, growth ability of returnees and the relationship between the two. Each of the three aspects scored over 80 out of 100 in the survey.

The researchers found that 83.3 percent of returnees who started their business in Shanghai had master's or doctoral degrees. About 81.6 percent of them said they decided to run their own business out of passion for innovation, rather than merely for higher income.

Among the returning entrepreneurs, 71.4 percent had worked overseas, with 31.2 percent having been at high-level positions while 21.9 percent had successfully launched businesses abroad.

According to the report, most of the returnees relied on overseas resources to develop their strength in science and technology and build teams and extensive social networks. Their team members were mainly overseas colleagues, classmates and colleagues within China.

More than one third of the startups became profitable within one year while 23.7 percent in three years.

The survey found that the returnees have made a significant contribution in developing Shanghai into a global center for science and technology innovation as more than 70 percent of these startups focus on key city industries, including biomedicine, integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, equipment manufacturing, new materials and new energy.

More than half of these enterprises were launched in Shanghai but serve markets beyond China, such as Asia and even the whole world.

"The returnees have studied or worked abroad and have a better understanding of international markets and regulations," said Zhu Yinghua, director of the international cooperation and exchanges division at the Shanghai Human Resources and Social Security Bureau. "Their domestic and international social networks also enable them to connect the domestic and international markets."

Nearly 70 percent of the returnees said the key reason for starting business in Shanghai was its abundant talent resource. And 95.6 percent of the entrepreneurs said they were satisfied with the business environment in the city, with industrial policies, talent policies and financial support the top three satisfactory factors.

Wang Yun, chief operating officer of Shanghai Snowlake Technology Co, studied and worked in Japan before founding his own company specializing in computer chips and computing power solutions with his partners in 2017.

"I am a native Shanghainese," said Wang. "But the main reason for me to start a business here is the availability of plenty of talent and potential partners in the whole industrial chain, which is really convenient and encouraging, not to mention considerate support from the government."

To better support returning entrepreneurs, Shanghai has set up 12 entrepreneurship parks around the city to provide favorable services such as low rent, human resources and financing. They have helped returnees set up more than 5,800 companies in Shanghai.

Nearly 85 percent of the returning entrepreneurs said they were satisfied with services provided by the entrepreneurship parks.

On Wednesday, three new entrepreneurship parks were unveiled in Minhang, Jing'an and Qingpu districts.

Zhu said based on the findings of the survey, Shanghai will continue to work out more favorable services for returnees to help them settle down and develop together with the city.