Women in Business Today

The Tianjin Women’s Business Incubator (TWBI) is a non-profit business incubator based in Tianjin, China’s third largest city, dedicated to promoting the growth and development of women-owned businesses of all types in Tianjin. While there are over 400 business incubators in China, TWBI is China’s only women’s mixed business incubator. It was established in 2000 with the financial assistance from the Tianjin Municipal Government, which provided the building and some cash investment, the Tianjin Women’s Federation and three other local government authorities. The incubator had received earlier technical assistance in the form of business planning consultancies and training from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and has been guided in its establishment and development by consultants from Australia and the United States (US). TWBI currently has a building area of 5000 square meters with 48 on-site tenants and 10 off-site tenants and to date has graduated 4 companies. Directly and indirectly it has been responsible for providing employment opportunities for an estimated 2000 people, a ratio far higher than developed-country incubators. It offers clients start-up assistance, business training, business mastermind assistance and assistance to graduates, and it facilitates an on-site micro credit program which received seed funding from UNDP and the Tianjin authorities. Operating at full capacity, it has managed to develop near financial self-sufficiency through charges for office rent, business services and external training courses. It has become famous in China as a model and acts as a center for study tours from other incubators and potential incubators in the country.

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