Business plan to trim jobless

The Shanghai Labor and Social Security Bureau yesterday launched a three-year plan to encourage young people to start their own businesses with the aim of reducing the number of jobless in the city.

The plan will focus on local young people in their 20s to early 30s, including unemployed graduates.

As part of the plan, a center for entrepreneurs will be built in Yangpu District to offer hands-on training to people who want to set up their own businesses and it will offer advisory services as well.

The bureau has also decided to increase the business start-up loans this year.

"At present, small business entrepreneurs can receive a government-guaranteed loan of 70,000 yuan (US$10,000), to support a business for up to one year," said Chen Wenjing of the bureau's business guidance center.

"Under the policy which will be implemented this year, the amount of the loan will be increased, though the exact sum is still being considered," Chen said. "Local entrepreneurs who start small businesses can expect to receive the loans for more than a year."

According to the bureau, the plan will encourage more young people to start their own businesses which can also help cut the number of jobless.

A survey showed there were six entrepreneurs for every 100 people aged between 16 and 64 in the city last year, comparing to 4.9 percent in 2005.

However, the bureau said Shanghai still lacks the right atmosphere for business start-ups in comparison with Shenzhen, which had 10.49 percent of its populace entrepreneurs in 2005 when the rate was 11.3 percent in the United States.

The bureau will establish a warning and control system for jobless people in the city to calculate the number of jobless every six months with the intention of keeping the registered unemployment rate for Shanghai below the 4.3 percent level this year

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