On the afternoon of July 6, the English seminar“YouthTalk Wenzhou: Entrepreneurship and innovation" was held in Qidu Street, Lucheng District, Wenzhou. This seminar is sponsored by Wenzhou People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, co-sponsored by China-India Economic and Cultural Exchange Center, and organized by Wenzhou Overseas Media Center. More than 40 guests including foreigners from 18 countries as Russia, Portugal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Nigeria, as well as experts and scholars from Wenzhou University, representatives of Wenzhou overseas Chinese, and returned entrepreneurs attended the seminar. They conducted interactive exchanges around entrepreneurship and innovation in Wenzhou.

During the seminar, Zhou Huaizhong, vice president of Wenzhou People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, introduced the current situation of Wenzhou's economic development to the participants, especially highlighted Wenzhou people’s ability to make innovation and create wealth. In 2020, the per-capita disposable income of urban residents in Wenzhou ranks 12th in China. Furthermore, Wenzhou ranks 1st in per capita Income/per capita GDP ratio at 85.92%, the highest in China, reflecting Wenzhou residents’ ability to create wealth. Zhou Huaizhong said that Zhejiang and Wenzhou are currently starting to build a national demonstration zone for common prosperity. More international talents from different countries and different cultural backgrounds are welcome to come to Wenzhou to make innovation, start businesses and achieve common prosperity in Wenzhou.

Zhou Huaizhong, Vice president of WZPAFFC, was giving speech

This seminar invited 5 representatives of international talents who are making innovation and working in Wenzhou to share their entrepreneurial and innovative stories.

Sumayyah, a Mauritian doctor from Wenzhou Peace International Hospital, was the first to show her innovative project. She said that she and her team are building a monitoring headset that uses sensors on the earlobe to monitor people’s emotional responses and heart rate changes in different situations, so as to tailor the most suitable rhythm for people to live, work, and study. For example, teachers can duly adjust teaching plan to improve the teaching effect by monitoring student’s emotional changes in daily classroom status.

Sumayyah was giving speech

Precious, a Nigerian student from the University of Wenzhou, showed many self-made handicrafts to everyone. According to the introduction, while spreading art and aesthetics, her "Olowo Art Studio" also promotes to use the waste materials to make handicrafts, taking into account both fashion and environmental protection. She hopes that through her works, women would be aware of their own excellence and beauty. And more people would paid attention to environmental protection.

Precious was giving speech

Qiu Yancheng, an authentic Wenzhou native, once studied in the United States and founded his own company in Houston. He said that as a Wenzhou native, the subtle influence of "the entrepreneurial spirit of Wenzhou businessmen" and family entrepreneurial culture not only made him accumulate a lot of working experiences, but also inspired his entrepreneurial aspiration. When it comes to the reason why choose industrial equipment as the entrepreneurial project, Mr. Qiu shared an interesting story when he was a child. His grandpa once opened a repair shop in Wenzhou. Every day, all sorts of customers came to the shop and asked his grandpa: "Can you fix this?" The grandpa's answer was always firm: "Yes, I can" The senses of satisfaction and happiness inspired Mr. Qiu's interest and love for equipment.

Qiu Yancheng was giving speech

Alexandra from Russia, has worked and lived in Wenzhou for 4 years. In her speech, she said that everyone should pay more attention to developing their own abilities, determining their wishes and goals, and knowing how to make friends with others and support each other. "I am very pleased to be invited to participate in the seminar to communicate and share ideas with others. Through activity like this, we explore different cultures, broaden our horizons, and have a deeper communication with different people.” Alexanadra said in an interview after the seminar.

Alexandra was giving speech

Najib from the Republic of Yemenis the last guest to share his own entrepreneurial story. He is the overseas marketing manager of Wenzhou Diamond Star. He purchases Wenzhou’s oil pipelines, valves and other products, then sell them all over the world. He said that the experience he most wants to share with all entrepreneurs is a saying from Confucius: "Learning without thinking is a waste of time, thinking without knowledgeis dangerous."

Najib was giving speech

In the subsequent free exchange section, more than 40 Chinese and foreign guests spoke freely, and lots of foreigners put forward their opinions and suggestions around the theme "Innovation and Entrepreneurship". Davis, a Ghanaian student from Wenzhou University, as a representative of present international students, hopes that international students from different countries can receive more vocational training and get more entrepreneurial opportunities in Wenzhou. Sun Jianqiang, director of the China-India Economic and Cultural Exchange Center, put forward his 3 opinions in response to Davis’s suggestion. 

He said that international students should understand the relevant laws and regulations on employment of foreigners, and choose entrepreneurial projects within the scope permitted by the policies. Secondly, international students should have a deep understanding of Wenzhou's local culture and customs, and do more cultural exchanges, which are conducive to promoting entrepreneurial projects. In addition, international students need to continuously improve their professional qualities and learn professional knowledge to better engage in employment or entrepreneurship.

Sun Jianqiang, director of the China-India Economic and Cultural Exchange Center, was giving speech

PhD. Huang Hao, associate professor of Business School, Wenzhou University, also put forward his own suggestions on the innovation and entrepreneurship of international talents in Wenzhou. He believes that under the general trend of globalization, the most important thing to overcome upon starting a business in different countries is the cultural differentiation and diversity. Therefore, foreigners should enrich their own experiences and learn different cultures in their entrepreneurial stage. It is important to respect the cultures of other countries, and strengthen mutual understanding with local people. These are his deepest feelings during his 12 years' studies and teaching in the United States.

PhD. Huang Hao, associate professor of Business School, Wenzhou University, was giving speech

Xu Penghuai, directorof Wenzhou Overseas Media Center, said the center and the police have jointly set up an immigration service center to provide international talents with free legal consultation, language emergency assistance, and bilingual hotline service (4008678110). He hopes to listen more voices from international talents and help them integrate into Wenzhou better.

"YouthTalk Wenzhou", a Chinese-foreign exchange and communication platform characterized with  “gathering Chinese and foreign youths, focusing on current issues, and leading topic orientation”, is initiated by the Wenzhou People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. It focuses on promoting Wenzhou’s opening to the outside world during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, speeds up to construct Wenzhou to be a benchmark open city, closely communicates with international talents in Wenzhou, and emphasizes the image of Wenzhou as an open and inclusive international city. The activity is held in the forms of exchanges and dialogues. Focusing on Wenzhou's development vision and key breakthrough areas, it gathers and attracts international talents to provide international intellectual support for Wenzhou's development. The suggestions given by international talents will also be submitted to relevant departments and agencies in a timely manner, and will be adopted in due course.