Experience the passion for innovation and entrepreneurship in your hometown from a distance

"I have lived in Guangzhou since I was a child, and my impression of the Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau Greater Bay Area has always been stuck in media reports about it. This time, through interviews, visiting companies, and listening to entrepreneurial stories, it was as if I had only really entered the Bay Area and was proud to be a member of the Greater Bay Area." In the past month, the Nanjing University "Bay Area Youth Observation Group" social practice team visited the core cities of the Greater Bay Area, interviewing young people from all walks of life and experiencing the passion for innovation and entrepreneurship and the power of vigorous development in their hometown, said Liu Jiaxi, Class of 2021, an artificial intelligence major at Nanjing University.

Since mid-July, Liu Jiaxi and 10 students have visited Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing, visiting several universities such as Southern University of Science and Technology and Jinan University, government departments such as Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Shenzhen Yantian District Science and Technology Bureau and Nansha District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, enterprises such as KDDI South China Branch and Shenzhen Bay Tencent Crowd Creation Centre, Guangzhou Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Service Centre, Guangzhou Hong Kong and Macao Youth Home and other service platforms. Youth Home and other service platforms, a combination of online and offline, dialogue with the heads of more than 20 units, enterprises, and institutions, interviews with several entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, etc., a multidisciplinary, multi-perspective, and multi-dimensional practical research on youth employment and entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area.

"The social practice was led by NTU Kaijia College, with members from Kaijia College Artificial Intelligence, Connie Yu College Electronic Information, Computer Finance Lab, Anbang College Life Sciences, School of Business, and School of Modern Engineering and Applied Science. Based on two fundamental points, namely the 3rd anniversary of the implementation of the Outline of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Plan and the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover, the project explores the current situation of youth employment and entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area from the perspective of young people from NTU. On the one hand, it advises on attracting talent and promoting youths to land and starts businesses in the Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao Greater Bay Area from the perspective of youths in the Greater Bay Area, and on the other hand, it analyses the employment and entrepreneurship environment in the Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao Greater Bay Area from the perspective of NTU students, and gives targeted advice for NTU youths who wish to work and start businesses in the Greater Bay Area in the future." Lead teacher Xing Luyuan said.

Government departments: How to build a "treasure pot" of talent

To understand the implementation of talent policies in the Greater Bay Area and to deepen their research on the entrepreneurship and employment situation of young people in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, the team members went to Guangzhou and Shenzhen government agencies to conduct in-depth research.

At the Shenzhen Yantian District Science and Innovation Bureau, Deputy Director Wang Jing took time to discuss with the team members. She introduced in detail the support and assistance policies of the Yantian District Science and Innovation Bureau for youths in the Greater Bay Area, especially those from Hong Kong and Macau who are starting their businesses in Shenzhen, and the results were achieved. Yantian District has attracted hundreds of young people from Hong Kong and Macao to start their businesses, founding dozens of enterprises and organizations in industries such as medical and health, software and information, electronic manufacturing, and judicial services, and organizing close ties between emerging start-ups and listed companies such as Huada Genetics, Chapters Technology, and Malibu Robotics, making it a model of extensive and deep cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

"I didn't expect Shenzhen's support for Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan talents to be so strong, and will tell more of my peers in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan about these good policies." The results were very exciting for team member Zeng Xianmei, who is from Taiwan and is now settled in Shenzhen.

Gao Zhiwen, Director of the Employment Management Service Centre of the Nansha Human Resources and Social Security Bureau in Guangzhou, introduced the employment situation of young people from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau in Nansha, especially how the center helps university students to explore their strengths and employability in concrete ways. The center regularly organizes various types of job fairs for young people in need of employment and has developed a small program, "Guangzhou Nansha Employment", to provide recruitment information. The government provides subsidies to encourage enterprises to recruit graduates while outsourcing to private professional human resources agencies and organizing regular seminars and activities to provide a platform for two-way choice between enterprises and unemployed young people.

At the Guangzhou Guangzhou Guangzhou Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Service Centre, which is under the Guangzhou Municipal Committee, the observer delegation gained a detailed understanding of how innovative enterprises such as Guangzhou Wenyi Intellectual Property Agency, Foshan Nanhai Yunsu Technology Co Ltd and Xinglun Internet of Things were incubated and grown here, and gained a more concrete understanding of the innovation incubation mechanism. At the Hong Kong and Macau Youth House in Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Director Lin Huibin elaborated on the collaboration and differences among the multiple regions of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, and all the group members were impressed by his depiction of a pattern of youth employment and entrepreneurship blossoming in the Greater Bay Area.

Entrepreneurs: What is the "winning formula" for entrepreneurial success

"Only those who have experienced the sweetness and sourness of entrepreneurship can have a better say. To obtain fresh data and vivid materials, the Observation Mission traveled around Guangdong and interviewed many business managers and entrepreneurial workers on the frontline of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and was moved by the indomitable spirit of struggle and dedication of entrepreneurs to society, as well as encouraged by the practical activities of innovation and entrepreneurship in this hotbed of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

"Innovation and entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area are becoming a trend, and we welcome more aspiring young people to come and work and live better in the Bay Area." Ms. Du Lan, Senior Vice President of KDXUNFei and Forbes China Women in Technology, showed the company's dedication to its core technology by talking about her experience in leading a team to establish KDXUNFei South China; Mr. Zhang Hong of Lingxiang Intelligence recalled the difficulties at the beginning of the company and was grateful to the Shenzhen government for giving him "three reductions and three exemptions" in social security Mr. Yao Zhenbang, the founder of Sky Society Technology Co., Ltd. told the audience that decisive action is more important than ambitious dreams and advanced technology. Mr. Yu Wei, the owner of High Mountain Green Tea Farm, a member of the Zhaoqing CPPCC, and an interviewee of CCTV's Focus Interview, was a young man from Hong Kong who was willing to put down his roots in the rural areas of Southern Guangdong to exert his youth for the revitalization of the countryside, and his story opened the vision of the team members that entrepreneurship does not necessarily gather in metropolises and high-tech industries, but the vast land of the motherland is a hotbed for realizing dreams. From the perspective of his predecessors, Mr. Chen Jiarui, the founder and outstanding young entrepreneur of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, told the young generation that they should not forget that the growth of their abilities comes from continuous practice; Ms. Zheng Wenzhu, the Executive President of Sunshine Research Education Technology Co Ltd and the nominee of Chinese Students' Person of the Year, vividly explained how to turn their love for public welfare into a lifelong pursuit from a high position of social responsibility ......

Team member Chen Cabin of the Business School Class of 2021, who has recorded several thick books of notes along the way, said, "I have benefited greatly from the exchanges with these seniors, learning new knowledge, new perceptions, and new ideas every day. From them, I saw the current situation of youths from all over the world shining in the inclusive Greater Bay Area, and even more so, the bright future of youths taking root and developing in the Greater Bay Area."

How to build university education and youth employment and entrepreneurship "in tandem"

The development of youth innovation and entrepreneurship and employment cannot be achieved without the education and planning guidance of universities. To explore the connection between the education construction of universities and youth employment and entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Observation Mission not only distributed nearly 500 online questionnaires to the entrepreneurship management departments of higher education institutions and students in the 9+2 cities in the Greater Bay Area but also visited Southern University of Science and Technology and Jinan University.

Li Fengliang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Southern University of Science and Technology, patiently answered questions about the conflict and balance between the ideals and reality of university students, how universities can effectively connect with society, the effectiveness of career guidance in universities, and GPA and employability in universities, which are of great concern. He said at length that young students today should look as internationally as possible while studying, and plan their career paths with foresight while improving their professional knowledge and that young person should strive to be strivers in the Greater Bay Area who are not afraid of the wind and waves.

The team also interviewed Hong Kong and Macao students studying or graduating from Nanjing University and Jinan University, as well as Mainland students studying at the University of Macau and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The students had an extensive exchange of views from their peers on the educational construction, educational philosophy, teaching content, and confusion about their personal future development in the universities in the Greater Bay Area, as well as a comprehensive comparison of the differences in educational models and guidance for youth entrepreneurship and employment in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao.

In a month, the Greater Bay Area Youth Observation Group measured their all-too-familiar hometown with their feet and examined the development of this land from a new perspective. They will use the last part of their summer vacation to complete their practice reports and provide thoughts, references, and suggestions for youth innovation and entrepreneurship in the Greater Bay Area.