THE 2008 Global Entrepreneurship Week, China, kicked off yesterday in Shanghai with a focus on youth.

The forum aims to strengthen entrepreneurial culture in the country and help young people tap their potential and explore their creative business ideas.

Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, company employees, non-profit organization leaders and government officials can participate in a series of activities in the city until Sunday.

A symposium on setting up business in the information technology sector will be organized at Fudan University today. A dialogue between merchants from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, and students and teachers of innovative courses will be held at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology tomorrow.

The initiative is themed "Unleashing Ideas, Enlightening China" and was organized by the Shanghai Technology Entrepreneurship Foundation for Graduates, under the guidance of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education and the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Youth League.

Before the opening ceremony, university students put up 34 projects showcasing their technological innovations. The displays included a light-emitting-diode panel used during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a robot capable of mowing lawns and nursing, and energy-efficient lights that can save up to 50 to 80 percent electricity.

Sun Hongtao, a Fudan University graduate who now runs his own business, said: "Passion is essential to every entrepreneur.

"It is not about simply pursuing wealth. It is the experience of starting an enterprise from scratch and making it the most fruitful operation."