First Group of Students Become Successful Entrepreneurs - Wanda Launches 2015 College Entrepreneur Program

BEIJING, Jan. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Wanda Group officially revealed its College Entrepreneur Program for 2015. The plan will entail Wanda providing 50 million yuan in investment for 100 students to open their own business in one of 50 retail spaces located at different Wanda Plazas. Students from 10 universities were selected last year to open businesses in 22 different Wanda Plazas across China, with 95% of them going on to achieve remarkable results.

On September 2013, Wanda introduced a plan to invest 50 million yuan and provide retail space at Wanda Plazas for 100 students every year until 2022. Over the next 10-years, the company will invest 500 million yuan to help 1000 students open businesses in 500 Wanda Plaza locations.

When the plan was first implemented on October 2013, Wanda chose students from 10 universities including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan University and Tongji University. These individuals went on to open stores in 22 different Wanda Plazas including Guangzhou Zengcheng, Weifang, Shanghai Jinsong and Beijing Tongzhou. The young entrepreneurs started companies ranging from food & beverage to specialized boutiques. The majority of these new businesses went on to experience positive results, with total revenue from 95% of those exceeding their same industry counterparts in their respective Wanda Plaza location. The best single day for any of these stores was 42,000 yuan and the best month was 300,000 yuan.

This year Wanda will cooperate with 31 universities in 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, compared with just 10 universities last year. Thousands of students will participate in the initial round of selections, with that number eventually being rounded down to 100 individuals. Wanda will continue to provide career guidance and ongoing support to entrepreneurs up until the point stable operations are achieved.

With the funding, project and career guidance support provided by Wanda, many more students are expected to engage in their own start-up ventures in 2015. The program's founder, Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin expressed his expectations for the program over the next 10 years: "By supporting 1000 students to become entrepreneurs, we are investing in the future. It's hard to say how many Wang Jianlin's will emerge in China over the next 10-20 years, but if this program can produce a few standout business leaders, then the 500 million yuan invested will have been well spent."