In November 1999, when the company was set up, its registered capital was 3.5 million yuan ($421,686). Today it is 30 million yuan ($3.6 million).

"Looking back, I always felt so lonely as an academic," said 40-year-old Wang.

Wang said he was doing quite well four years ago as a young associate professor at Fudan University, leading a stable life on a stable income with which he supported his wife and child in the family apartment.

At that time Fudan was selecting "trans-century subject leaders." "Many people thought an award was in the offing for me," said Wang.

"But I felt restless, something in my bones: a feeling I should try something new, different or challenging," said Wang, with emotion in his voice. "And, you know, I did not want to follow the conventional path which had already been laid out for a university teacher like me."

With a lot of support from Fudan University and the government of Pudong New Area, Wang took charge of setting up a new company with several Fudan young teachers and graduates.

"We felt so lonely because three or four years ago few university teachers or graduates would dare to set up a company," Wang said. "Added to that, it usually takes a lot of hard, patient and meticulous work to develop a new medicine."

"We started everything from scratch, and we tasted the bitterness of hardship as well as the sweetness of success," said Wang.

More success stories

"Now with more and more adventurous and innovative young people joining in to open their own companies here I, no, we don't feel lonely any more," said Wang.

Wang's company is located in Shanghai Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in Pudong. The State high-tech development zone is home not only to a host of international and domestic companies, but also to more than 30 private companies.

Four private companies set up by Fudan teachers and graduates are all doing very well. Wang's success story is shared by several other Fudan young teachers and graduates.

In mid 1994, when people had little knowledge of the Internet, four Fudan graduates headed by Mo Weiguo, Master graduate of Fudan's Computer Engineering Department collected 100,000 yuan ($12,000), the minimum amount of capital permitted to register a company, to set up Shanghai Baud Data Communication Company.

Five years of hard work from Baud's staff have seen its capital rocket to 50 million yuan ($6 million) and helped earn the company a considerable share of the country's communications network equipment market in spite of the cutthroat competition from many international companies.

Another Fudan graduate with a Master's in computer studies, Qiao Zhigang, founded a computer company with seven other Fudan graduates in 1995. The company is also doing quite well and in 1998, Qiao even met visiting US President Bill Clinton.

Funding and support

Inspired by the roaring success of Fudan teachers and graduates in Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, the park and Fudan University jointly set up a student venture fund and a student venture project competition a month ago.

The agreement of the fund stipulates that the park will collect funding to finance Fudan students' venture companies and provide them with a favourable environment in which to conduct research. Students' scientific discoveries will be converted into a certain amount of shares. Initial funding is 10 million yuan ($1.2 million).

The Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park will also be the sole sponsor of the "Zhangjiang Cup" Fudan Students Venture Project Competition every year. Prize-winning projects will be absorbed into the park and the park will help the designers turn their brainchilds into lucrative products.

Teaming up

The marriage of a local university and a local high-tech park is no novelty in the city.

Early in October last year, four local companies invested 800,000 yuan ($96,600) to establish Shanghai Jiaoda Students Venture Company in a bid to turn students' inventions into products that sell.

Of the four companies, one was affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University, one to Shanghai Caohejing High-Tech Park Innovation Centre.

The company was reportedly the first in China to bring the investment sector, the enterprise sector, a university and its students together.

Top local universities, such as Shanghai Jiaotong and Fudan all aspire to build themselves into first-rate universities of international renown, while local high-tech parks are in desperate need of talented people and so welcomes them to settle there.