College graduates who seek to establish their own businesses may get a maximum loan of 500,000 yuan (about US$71,400), according to a regulation newly released by the government of Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The guidelines for helping college graduates establish their ventures was jointly developed by the city government and the city commercial bank. The venture loans target at small enterprises of high-tech, service industry and modern agriculture, which should be registered after January 1, 2008, according to government sources.

The guidelines also require that the legal representatives should be college graduates and overseas Chinese scholars, whom have registered permanent residence in Xi'an. And they are expected to submit business plans together with feasibility reports for loan assessment.

The loans of two years will be used in purchasing basic production facilities and for necessary management costs.

(Xinhua News Agency January 3, 2009)