A residential community has been developed in Taiyuan to offer housing to young entrepreneurs. WU JIA / FOR CHINA DAILY
After graduating from Datong University in Shanxi province, Zhang Jiaming, a native of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, decided to start his own business in the city of Datong.
Zhang and his four friends started a small company called Geeker Space Technology last year, designing and developing circuit products for larger companies.
Zhang decided to stay in Datong because of the incentives for entrepreneurship offered by the city. He and his friends' apartments and offices are provided for free.
Datong is not alone in offering incentives for entrepreneurship.
In a residential community of the Shanxi Transformation and Comprehensive Reform Demonstration Zone in the provincial capital of Taiyuan, a total of 626 apartments have been offered to entrepreneurs who started businesses in the zone.
In recent years, Shanxi prioritized attracting talented, innovative professionals to transform its economy. It highlights a shift from the province's reliance on the coal industry to an economic diversification featuring multiple growth drivers, especially the emerging, high-tech industries.
The incentives for entrepreneurship offered by various levels of governments in Shanxi include tax exemptions, free housing or housing subsidies, assistance in access to loans and subsidies for entrepreneurship, as well as awards to outstanding entrepreneurs.
In Datong, the city has established a special entrepreneurship base called Huizhi Innovation Town. It is for young professionals like Zhang to incubate and start their businesses.
Since its establishment in August 2020, Huizhi Innovation Town has attracted more than 1,000 young professionals to start their companies.
They are all provided with free housing, according to officials in Datong. There is still plenty of room for newcomers in the years to come. There are 58 apartment buildings offering free housing to entrepreneurs, as well as office buildings offering studios for free.
"We have planned to build more such facilities for young professionals, making Huizhi Innovation Town and the whole of Datong a favored destination for entrepreneurship and innovation," said Yang Hefen, an official in Datong's employment and human resource service center.
When commenting on Datong's incentives for entrepreneurs, the city's Mayor Wu Hongwen cited a Chinese proverb. He said: "We are planting parasol trees to attract phoenixes."
In Chinese legend, parasol trees are the favored habitat of phoenixes. In his quotation, the mayor expressed he expects to create a favorable business and living environment for entrepreneurs and professionals alike.
Wu Jia contributed to this story.
By YUAN SHENGGAO
山西路橋:黨建引領 建好“四好農村路”山西路橋建設集團黨委扎實開展“黨建質量提升年”,實施“六大工程”,立足“十四五”高質量、高速度、高效益發展的戰略基點,全面提高黨建質量和黨建引領發展水平,為打造“國內一流的交通基礎設施投資、建設、施工現代化企業集團”提供堅強政治保障。
常住人口3491萬 山西人口普查數據"出爐"山西省統計局向社會通報山西省第七次全國人口普查主要數據。數據顯示,山西省常住人口為34915616人,比2010年(第六次全國人口普查數據,下同)減少2.23%,年平均減少0.23%。山西省常住人口總量減少,主要受人口流動變化等因素影響。