Two mainland organisations are among the first to receive grants from Hewlett-Packard under the computer and printer company's livelihood programme for underserved members of Asia-Pacific communities.
The China Association for Employment Promotion and Youth Business China won grants, worth US$80,000 each. Other awardees of HP's Micro Enterprise Development Grant initiative last week were the Asean Foundation, the Korea International Trade Association and Mission Australia.
Micro-enterprise development agencies, which provide start-up assistance, business training and advice to entrepreneurs and very small businesses, have increasingly become active around the world to help create jobs.
The China Association for Employment Promotion works with a variety of employment, community, training and social organisations to provide better-educated rural youths with the training, knowledge and skills to start their own businesses.
It estimated that there are about 250 million redundant labourers in the mainland's rural areas and that number is growing by 10 million each year.
Youth Business China is an entrepreneurship education project that also aims to help young people start a business. It mobilises all mainland social sectors - particularly the business community - to provide consultancy, training, mentoring, seed-money, technology and network support to young entrepreneurs.
