Cheng Si-yi (back in the center) during a meeting

Cheng Si-yi, who started her first business at the age of 24, wears many hats; she is an entrepreneur, an angel investor, and the owner of a coffee shop, Bays Life Brunch and Café.

Cheng, a native of East China's Zhejiang Province, moved to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, with her family, when she was little. As she grew up in Hong Kong, she has a deep affection for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Cheng is vice-president of Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Association, and she is CFO (chief financial officer) of Greater Bay Area Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center.

She established Wanxin Technology Company in 2016. The company develops and sells electronic components and environmentally friendly, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). "My company was short of hands in the beginning, and I had to deal with various problems on my own. I gradually learned how to manage time effectively, and how to manage my team properly," Cheng says.

Although she experienced many setbacks, she never gave up her pursuit of her entrepreneurial dreams. "I want to break the gender stereotype … and become a brave, confident and independent woman. Coinciding with the development of the times, women have become more powerful than before," she says.

Cheng is also founder of an all-women's organization, Jin Guo Hui, in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub (E-hub), in Shenzhen.

Jin Guo Hui serves as an exchange and social-networking platform for women entrepreneurs and women employees in GBA. It was established on March 5, during an event to mark International Women's Day in the E-hub. The activity was hosted by the E-hub and Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Association.

Yang Shan, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Qianhai Administration Bureau, attended the activity, during which she announced the establishment of Jin Guo Hui. She also recognized women entrepreneurs' business achievements, and their contributions to GBA's development.

As a representative of Hong Kong's women entrepreneurs, Cheng shared her story of starting a business, and she called on women entrepreneurs to unite and contribute to society.

More than 100 women entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong have joined Jin Guo Hui.

Cheng pledged greater support for career women in the GBA. "I feel more fulfilled through helping others start a business and realize their dreams. I also feel lucky that our country has offered so many good conditions to young people, from Hong Kong and Macao, to start businesses and find jobs in the mainland," she says.

"People should pursue their dreams, bravely, to create brilliant lives. I will live up to the expectations of young entrepreneurs who trust me, and I will help them make continuous progress," Cheng adds.

Photo Supplied by Cheng Si-yi 

(Women of China English Monthly September 2021 issue)