Not long ago, even the thought of seeing ‘China’ and ‘entrepreneurship’ in the same sentence would seem far-fetched—but not any longer. Business and government leaders mixed with startup enthusiasts and official delegates from 100 countries at the recent Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Shanghai.

The importance of the event was evident through the participation of a number of Chinese government officials, led by Yan Junqi, vice chairwoman of the standing committee of the National People's Congress of China, as well as Wan Gang, the country’s Minister for Science and Technology.

Carl Schramm, President and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, encouraged Chinese government officials and delegates alike to strive toward improving “entrepreneurial ecosystems” around the world.

The GEC is an opportunity for delegates to connect and collaborate around their national campaigns to advance entrepreneurial growth while hearing from world leaders, economists and other experts regarding successful programs, policies and research. It started in 2009 as the Kauffman Foundation assembled representatives from nearly 60 nations at its headquarters in Kansas City. One year later, the Congress convened in Dubai with an all-star lineup of speakers including Prime Minister H.E. Nika Gilauri of Georgia; Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York; Carl Schramm, President & CEO, Kauffman Foundation; Hartmut Ostrowski, Chairman & CEO, Bertelsmann AG; Sun Young Kang, the former Foreign Minister of Korea; Suhas Gopinath, CEO & President, Globals Inc.; and, Tom Scott, co-founder of Nantucket Nectars.

The GEC 2010 was hosted by the Shanghai Technology Entrepreneurship Foundation for Graduates along with Global Entrepreneurship Week, Kauffman Foundation and Founder Magazine. Additional supporters included: China Association for Promoting Democracy, Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Education, Central Committee of Chinese Communist Youth League and the Shanghai Municipal Government.

GEC Looks Ahead to Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011

Following the flash and glitz of the opening day, delegates to the GEC celebrated the successes of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2010 while keeping an eye squarely on plans for the 2011 campaign. The Impact Report outlining the highlights of GEW 2010 was released while GEW / Netherlands led the way at the Awards Ceremony, recognizing the top performing GEW 2010 campaigns.

Looking ahead to GEW 2011, delegates collaborated on their approaches for strengthening their campaigns—sharing ideas on catalyzing partnerships, integrating communications efforts and standardizing metrics. Delegates also heard from the organizers of four featured events for GEW 2011—Marc Nager on Startup Weekend, Chris Arnold on Your Big Year, Rex Northen and Kevin Braithwaite of Cleantech Open Global Ideas Competition and Erin Wiley on Startup Open.

Liverpool Selected to Host GEC 2012

Hosting rights for the Congress have taken on the feel of the Olympic Selection Committee with a small, but growing number of countries competing for the honor each year. It was announced during the proceedings that Liverpool, England, had been selected as the host city for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress 2012. The bid—submitted by Liverpool Vision, the city’s economic development company—outpaced strong competition from the United Arab Emirates, Chile and Denmark. It now becomes the first UK and European city to hold the event which attracts hundreds of the world’s leading entrepreneurs, thought leaders and economists from more than 100 countries.

“The significance of this for Liverpool cannot be underestimated and the effects of the Global Entrepreneurship Congress selection committee choosing our city will ripple for many years to come,” said Max Steinberg, chief executive of Liverpool Vision. “We want to create the conditions in which innovators and entrepreneurs can thrive and that has never been more important than now.”

The city was selected on a number of factors, including its current dedication to entrepreneurial growth.

“We were impressed by Liverpool’s tradition and history of entrepreneurialism and the attempts they are making to embed entrepreneurship across the city in a range of innovative ways,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president of Global Entrepreneurship Week, who led the selection process.

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