2017 China Light Entrepreneurship Summit kicks off in Beijing on Mar 24. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2017 China Light Entrepreneurship Summit, held by the China Overseas-Educated Scholars Development Foundation (COSDF), kicked off at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Beijing on Mar 24.

Put forward by the COSDF, light entrepreneurship is so new that it has no accurate definition. Generally, it refers to an emerging entrepreneurial model with low in-put, low risk, various forms, low entry barriers and high returns.

Cao Weizhou, major member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress and COSDF direct-general, attended the summit and delivered a speech.

Cao Weizhou gives a speech at the summit. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

To enhance support for mass innovation and entrepreneurship, the COSDF founded the Light Entrepreneurship Promotion Center in Nov, 2015, and launched the “Entrepreneurship Market” last May. To date, the Entrepreneurship Market has set up over 600 projects, served more than 200 start-ups and attracted 30,000 entrepreneurs, according to Cao.

“Entrepreneurship ‘never did run smooth’. So many experts and entrepreneurs have been invited today to give advice to light entrepreneurship under the new economic situation,” Cao said. “The Light Entrepreneurship Promotion Center is exploring more modes to offer more accurate service to entrepreneurs.”

At the summit, the COSDF Light Entrepreneurship Promotion Center launched a new project -- Chuangyou Town -- which aims to set up a new and synthetic system of mass innovation and entrepreneurship in Shanghai, Changsha, Shenyang and Jiaxing.

New project---Chuangyou Town, is launched at the summit. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2017 China Light Entrepreneurship Summit, with a theme of “Innovation and Entrepreneurship under the New Economic Situation”, is to discuss policies and methods affecting innovation and entrepreneurship. The summit has attracted more than 300 representatives from government, companies, organizations and colleges and universities.