Nanyang business starters receive govt support

A total of 6,218 entrepreneurs from Nanyang, Henan province, received loans worth 536 million yuan ($81 million) to start up their own businesses from January to October this year, generating 12,026 jobs for the locals in the process.

Zhang Guangxiu, who owns a children's clothing shop, is one of the beneficiaries. She rented the retail premises located downtown after losing her job in 2015. However, with the lease expiring in October, she found herself with little money to rent a new place – that's where the government stepped in and granted her business loan of 100,000 yuan.

The loans are aimed at people who are having difficulty finding employment, such as retired service people, college students, returned migrant workers and emancipists, as well as less-well-off rural workers and online retailers, according to Gu Qiusheng, director of the city's Small-amounts Loan Center.

The maximum guaranteed loans for eligible individuals, enterprises run by multiple entrepreneurs and micro and small-sized enterprises are 100,000, 500,000 and 2 million yuan, respectively, Gu said, adding that the government will offer the loans for up to three years for individuals and two years for enterprises.