An entrepreneurship and employment cooperation forum targeting Jilin merchants is held in Changchun, Jilin province, on Aug 28. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

An entrepreneurship and employment cooperation forum targeting Jilin merchants was held in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin province, via a video conference, according to local media reports.

Seven Jilin merchants, including Zhang Siming, Chang Yi and Sun Jichun, shared their experience in starting businesses in Jilin province.

The forum, which is aimed at encouraging Jilin merchants to return to Jilin and start businesses, was initiated in 2018.

The employment and cooperation forum, which is aimed at encouraging Jilin merchants to return to Jilin and start businesses, was initiated in 2018. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In 2020, the number of talents with senior professional titles in Jilin province has increased significantly, and the number of market entities in the province has increased by 12.2 percent, ranking sixth nationwide.

From January to July this year, the number of market entities in the province increased by 50.6 percent, ranking third in the country

Since the establishment of the Jilin Merchants Association five years ago, the number of Jilin merchants has increased greatly from 1.5 million at the beginning of its establishment to about 3 million. Jilin merchants have returned to Jilin province to invest in 436 projects with a total investment of more than 430 billion yuan ($66.48 billion).

This year, the Jilin Merchants Association signed a large number of major projects around the province's automobile industry and rural revitalization, including the 50-billion-yuan Hongqi Fund project and the Sino-Japanese Industrial Park.

The forum was broadcast live online and had approximately 960,000 online viewers.