Korean Youth Less Interested than Chinese in Launching Their Own Business

According to Korea International Trade Association’s report released on Dec. 2, 6.1 percent of Korean college and undergraduate students are willing to start their own business after graduation while the percentage is as high as 40.8 for their Chinese counterparts.

The organization mentioned an active startup ecosystem with colleges at its center as the background of the Chinese students’ high preference for launching their own business. For example, Zhongguancun in Beijing, where more than 40 colleges such as Tsinghua University and Peking University are located, is the home of the Coco Space, which provides inexpensive professional services for students opting to set up their own companies.

According to the report, 30.2 percent of young Koreans who consider starting their own business are doing so because of the difficulty of getting a job whereas the ratio is only 10.7 percent in China. In addition, 38 percent of Korean students said they are hesitating to do so due to a high possibility of failure.

31.3 percent of the Korean students said they are interested in food service and other type of micro startups while 20.1 percent of the Chinese students are interested in innovative IT. Also, 84.6 percent of the Chinese students are considering expanding their business abroad while the ratio is no more than 32.4 percent for the Korean youth.

In order to draw up the report, Korea International Trade Association conducted an online survey from Oct. 4 to 7, in which 179 Korean and 169 Chinese students participated.