Three teams of high school students beat more than 30 local peer groups over the weekend to win places in the second national Junior Achievement Student Business Planning Competition final.

 

The three teams, who mapped out plans to run a candle shop, a toy and gift store and a second-hand book exchange, are scheduled to compete in Beijing next month for one of two 4,000 yuan (US$500) grants to start up their businesses, contest organizers said on Saturday.

 

Organized by Junior Achievement (JA) China the business planning competition is part of their global business education course "student company."

 

Groups of high school students are required to work out plans to run a business in the first semester, learning about company structure, capital flow as well as human resources and risk management.

 

At the end of the first semester JA holds a nationwide competition for students to demonstrate their business ideas and have their plans evaluated by professionals.

 

More than 30 student company teams, each with three members, competed in the city's business plan competition this year. Their business ideas included online computer games, group purchasing, the leasing of flowers and running a tea house.

 

Isa Luo, JA China's program director, said the money awarded to winning teams was small but the importance lay in training students how to run a company.

 

Last year local teams won both of the top prizes at the national competition. One of the companies generated a net profit of more than 2,000 yuan after one year of operation.

 

(Shanghai Daily January 8, 2007)