(Yicai Global) Sept. 8 -- Some 3 percent of Chinese college graduates choose to build their own business upon graduation, nearly doubling the 1.6 percent among graduates in developed nations, an official from the Ministry of Education said today.

Educating students about innovation and teaching them how to start a business is a new way for China's higher education institutions to cultivate talent, Wu Yan, head of the Education Ministry's higher education department, said at a press conference today.

The national final of the third China 'Internet+' College Student Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition, which will take place at Xidian University on Sept. 16 through Sept. 18, includes an international session for the first time, with 116 university teams from 25 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Japan and Australia, competing, Wu added.

Internet+ means the application of the internet and other information technology to traditional industries.   

Some 2,241 universities participate in the competition, which attracts 1.5 million students with 370,000 team projects, 3.2 times and 2.7 times the figures reported in the previous competition, showing exponential growth, Wu said.