Wang Ziyue holds an example of her papercutting work in her store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Photo: Courtesy of Wang Ziyue

By Wen Ya

Paper-cutting is a Chinese folk art dating from the sixth century and is usually regarded as a skill demanding patience and mastered by elderly rural women. It's hard to imagine that one could learn it quickly, but Wang Ziyue, a college student has made it possible by inventing her own form: magnetic paper-cutting. Now she's made her own pot of gold.

Wang is a marketing junior at Hangzhou Normal University in Zhejiang Province, yet has still founded two paper-cutting companies in Zhejiang Province since June 2009.

Born in Jincheng, a mountain city in Shanxi Province in 1990, Wang learned paper-cutting from childhood. At age 15, she destroyed one by accident when she stuck it on a car for her cousin's wedding but it pushed her to discover special materials to make paper-cutting strong enough, as well as easy to stick and restore.

Refrigerator magnets in her home enlightened her. "If paper-cutting was like [them], it would be more convenient to use," Wang said.

After several experiments, she found a material similar to a soft magnet. Pasting it on self-adhesive stickers with a paper-cutting design, one can cut away the white part, leaving the colorful part remaining; the whole process takes no more than 10 minutes.

Starting the business

Her invention received its national patent when she was 17 at a local high school. As soon as she was admitted by Hangzhou Normal University in 2008, her magnetic paper-cutting work was selected by the Shanxi Provincial Depart-ment of Culture to participate in an exhibition for the Beijing Olympic Games at the Beijing Olympic Park where it was welcomed by visitors.

From this, she earned about 15,000 yuan ($2,275), which encouraged her to build a company to promote her form of paper-cutting.

In June 2009, she invest 30,000 yuan - half of it earned by herself and the other borrowed from relative - to found her first paper-cutting company in Yiwu, China's largest small-commodity wholesale base in Zhejiang.

In the year that followed, she received several prizes from competitions including gold medals in the Hangzhou College Students' Business Start-up Competition and 7th National Challenge Cup Business Plan Competition. The organizer of the first competition, the College Students' Alliance Club of Hangzhou Daily and Hangzhou Binjiang district government, offered her an office in a "pioneering park" near to her university rent-free for two years. She founded her second paper-cutting company. Currently, there are about 30 full-time employees in her companies.

Merchants have shown strong interest in her product. According to her company's regulations, if a merchant buy products worth 20,000 yuan once, he can be a member of her business alliance. She has developed about 50 alliance members across the country.

"My companies mainly provide products for my alliance members," Wang said, adding her main categories include DIY, festival and wedding celebrations, memento, family and hotel decorations.

In order to raise the quality of her products, Wang has invited several paper-cutting artists to design new samples. Besides that, she has also employed 20- 30 laid-off and disabled workers in her hometown.

"I hope while I earn money, I could observe my social responsibilities," Wang said.

However, with too much time put into her business, she has devoted less to her studies.

"Sometimes I have no time to attend classes… before exams, I have to burn the midnight oil," she said. "But my working experiences help a lot in my major in many aspects, such as sales and communica-tion."

An encouraging model

In her teachers' eyes, Wang has much potential to be an entrepreneur.

"She has more innovative ideas and logical thinking and balances her business, doing all kinds of competitions and studying well. Although she is already a campus star, she can still keep a low profile and get along well with others," Jiang Wanbo, Wang's student advisor told the Global Times.

Encouraged by Wang, about 12 classmates - half of her whole class - started their own businesses, according to Jiang Yu, Wang's classmate.

Wang also employed about 20 college students from Hangzhou in her company doing part-time jobs, who says the working experience is useful for them. Chen Jiajia, an English education sophomore at Hangzhou Normal University, has worked in Wang's company for one year, mainly introducing their products to customers.

"Before I entered the company, I was very shy. But after contact with all kinds of customers, I have become confident, patient and extroverted," Chen told the Global Times.