About The China UK Entrepreneurship Challenge
The China UK Entrepreneurship Challenge has been developed by leading universities in the UK and China to bring together existing businesses and new student-led start-ups that are looking to develop commercial relationships and exploit market opportunities offered by new business collaborations between China and the UK.
The Economic Rationale
The integration of world economies and collaboration between different counties become more and more profound.
- China is the growing powerhouse of the world economy with a huge consumer market of its own and a rapidly rising scientific and technological base that is increasingly attracting worldwide attention. The Chinese government, academics and enterprises are increasingly attaching importance to intellectual property rights and technology research and development, in order to achieve industrial upgrading and enhance our competitiveness.
- United Kingdom, as one of the world’s ten largest economies, is renowned for its entrepreneurial and flexible higher education system, and for a culture of cultivating innovative ideas.
Increasingly, interaction and collaborations between the UK and China are becoming ever deeper. Every year 5,000 Chinese students came to UK start higher education with over 75,000 Chinese students having studied in the UK (UCAS) . UK businesses have invested in more than 6,000 projects in China, a total worth over £8bn, and is by far the biggest recipient of Chinese foreign direct investment in Europe – capturing 11 per cent of the total (FT).
There is a comparatively high-level of entrepreneurial activity in both countries. 24.6% of Chinese of working age are involved in some form of entrepreneurial activity, compared with 10.5% in the UK , and this trend is growing, with the proportion of the working population engaged in the earliest stages of entrepreneurial activity in China increasing from approximately 11% in 2002/3 to 16% by 2006/76, representing nearly 50% growth in just four years.
How We Are Rising to The Challenge
Amidst an increasing number and level of activity between the two country, the different business cultures are still significant and this makes doing business in overseas territories daunting for many small businesses and entrepreneurs. This programme aims to promote the opportunities that exist and highlight potential stars to watch in the future.
While many programmes exist to teach and encourage graduates to become entrepreneurs, the China UK Entrepreneurship Challenge provides a platform for international entrepreneurs to hone their business plans and attract potential investors. The Challenge consists of two strands:
- Tomorrow’s Leaders Track – student-led business idea entries: encouraging current students and recent graduates to explore new, international ventures.
- Innovative Business Track – non-university business idea entries: facilitating already established businesses to look into growth areas, new products and services.
Both strands promote business ideas that utilise international resources or markets.
