Loans help young entrepreneurs fulfill their dreams

Every morning, Han Jiafei, 26, gets up early to open his noodle shop in Wucheng county of Dezhou, Shandong province. With an innovative diner-friendly operating model and attractive decor, the restaurant is gaining popularity among young consumers.

"However, at the beginning of this entrepreneurial journey, I almost gave up due to lack of funds," said Han, who just graduated from college this year. "However, I learned of and received entrepreneurship guarantee loans from the local government. With the restaurant profiting well, I'm thinking about a new location somewhere in the county."

Officials answer queries from business owners at a restaurant in Wucheng county, Shandong province.

"The process was very simple, and the interest rate was lower than most commercial banks," Han said. "In less than a week, I received the funds."

With a 200,000 yuan entrepreneurship guarantee loan from Wucheng county, Han's restaurant started operating.

The loan is part of the government's support plan for young entrepreneurs like Han, helping individual entrepreneurship and small and micro enterprises expand. It is ramping up policy support and subsidies to alleviate the burden on entrepreneurs and support more people to start businesses.

"So far, the county's bureau of human resources and social security has signed cooperation agreements with five banks. The maximum loan for individual businesses is 200,000 yuan, with the county government subsidizing around 2 percent of the interest and the interest rate not exceeding 4.05 percent," said Gao Jinyu, an employee with the bureau.

Since the introduction of the policy, Wucheng county has granted 107 entrepreneurship guarantee loans worth 32.45 million yuan, according to the bureau.

"Next, we will further strengthen cooperation between banks, optimize the process, simplify the procedures for handling entrepreneurship guarantee loans and assist entrepreneurs in solving their funding woes to shore up local employment," said Xu Limeng, deputy director of the bureau.