Eighteen ministries under the State Council have been making joint efforts to remove obstacles for overseas returnees in starting their own businesses since the middle of last year.

According to an official survey last June, returning overseas students often encounter obstacles in enjoying preferential policies, applying for household registration, getting financial support, intellectual property (IP) applications, and cultural concepts integration.

To solve these problems, ministries such as the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Human Resource department made more efforts in publicizing preferential policies for small and micro enterprises (SMEs), such as holding lectures among targeted groups, to make sure people are familiar with related policies.

Ministries led by Human Resource department also introduced policies to streamline household registration procedures for overseas returnees. In the meantime, the Ministry of Education launched a series of policies to help with the school enrollment issue for their children.

Financially, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation rolled out measures to cut the tax burden for shareholders with technology invested as capital stock, while the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) offered more opportunities for SMEs to achieve financial support through easier internal assessment, especially for IP financing plans.

In addition, to further cope with cross-cultural conflicts, ministries held multiple nationwide symposiums for overseas talent to exchange opinions on their technology projects.

The efforts made by the 18 ministries have benefited over 2 million returning overseas students and prompted more to return to join the workforce and start their own businesses. According to official data, by the end of 2015, a total of 2.21 million overseas students returned home, with an average annual growth rate of 21.75 percent, and they have become a major boost for promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation.