So it sounds like there’re funding, there are like rental,
free rent, and then some pitching … or events and programs
and even mentorship.
Yes, and also there is a …which is
I don't know if other countries does that.
But they have this thing called interest subsidy.
So what they say is - well, I can't judge whether you are a good project or not,
you go to the bank and try to get a loan
but I’ll pay you the interest
I’ll pay you back the interest. So you
effectively get interest-free loan.
(Yes.) So, that's very good
but what they’re saying is I'm relying on commercial bank
to judge whether your project is a viable
one and I think that's a good thing.
That's interesting because usually
startups will have difficulty getting (Yes.) a loan.
They don’t have collaterals and sometimes pre-revenue; so, that's
a big challenge for them to get a loan from the banks.
Yes, it is, but as everywhere else.
I think, if you look at obviously Chinese government
but also I have been sometimes involved the Hong Kong government as well
it's actually very hard to for government
civil servant to determine
whether a project is going to fly or not.
(Yes.) So, they have to have reference on something.
They either have a external committee full of VCs
or they have like this particular case, they will
have like the banks decide.
In general, the Chinese banks
these days they are a bit more aggressive, I’d say
in terms of supporting startups. Okay, not so much … I think …
I think it's probably the same in the US. But you know Hong Kong
bankers are very conservative. Right. They want collaterals,
they want bricks and mortars. But they don't … they
won't give you a loan based on a PowerPoint. In China, they
will but it's probably like a micro-fund kind of thing.
(It won’t be a large sum.) It won’t be a large sum of money
(To avoid the big risk.) Yes.