61 relatives and friends.In both financing categories,the differences between experienced and less experienced entrepreneurs were statistically significant. Gestation Time.As Table 6 shows,on average "thinkers"have 8.907%of money in the form of bank loans,which is significantly higher than 5.185%for"doers."On average,the combined sources of financing from personal saving and parents,relatives and friends were 66.79%for“doers'”as compared to66.l6%for“thinkers.”It seems that both groups were equally committed to their h usiness and willing to commit financing resources to ventures However."doers"had a significantly higher percentage of investment from parents,relatives and friends (19.315%)than"thinkers"(19).For the balance of the sou we failed to find any significance between the two groups DISCUSSION udy examined the soures of financing by Chinese and the exten to which th ng vary acros age,gende education ground working experience and gestation time.Overall,a few interesting patterns emerge from our study Overall financing patterns Our results indicate that Chinese entrepreneurs heavily rely on financial sources of thei own or parties that are within the close circle of their social network.By contrast,external sources of financing such as banks,government and equity market are notably missing and significantly under-utilized.There are a few explanations for the occurrence of such patterns First,the pattern reflects Chinese culture in family values.Members of a family and relatives have the obligation to support each other not only emotionally but also financially when necessary.Very often a Chinese entrepreneur would first seek financial support from the inner circle of his or her social network(family members,relatives)before looking into the circle of friends.The external support sources are usually the last resort. Second,the patte n may also suggest the fact the external support for entrepreneurial develon te and under-develoned There may be l nited financial su vailable for Chinese epreneu Historically.China has been a planne all hav ed to suppo (SOEs) re years ng nav fi cial support to oans as a way to mounting pre these nor perfo Keep en As a resul little financi esource av cated to promo the creation of private enterprises. certair extent,the Chine ent's strong commitment in entrepreneurial development as a key economic policy has not yet materialized Additionally,venture capital is still an emerging industry in China. The late 90s dotcom frenzy creates a momentum for the development of Chinese venture capital industry The majority of venture capital investment has been concentrated in a few big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai,with a focus on technology-based sectors.Such a source of financing is still off limits to entrepreneurs in other cities and in other sectors.Additionally,the Chinese equity market has such very stringent listing criteria that only well established and large companies can meet them.This source of financing is still not on the radar screen of Chinese entrepreneurs. In more recent vears.the Chinese government is developing a"secondary board"for the listing of small startups.We believe that this is certainly a right step in the right direction for the economic development of China.61 relatives and friends. In both financing categories, the differences between experienced and less experienced entrepreneurs were statistically significant. Gestation Time. As Table 6 shows, on average “thinkers” have 8.907% of money in the form of bank loans, which is significantly higher than 5.185% for “doers.” On average, the combined sources of financing from personal saving and parents, relatives and friends were 66.79% for “doers” as compared to 66.16% for “thinkers.” It seems that both groups were equally committed to their business and willing to commit financing resources to ventures. However, “doers” had a significantly higher percentage of investment from parents, relatives and friends (19.315%) than “thinkers” (11.911%). For the balance of the sources of financing, we failed to find any significance between the two groups. DISCUSSION This study examined the sources of financing by Chinese entrepreneurs and the extent to which the sources of financing vary across age, gender, education background, working experience and gestation time. Overall, a few interesting patterns emerge from our study. Overall financing patterns Our results indicate that Chinese entrepreneurs heavily rely on financial sources of their own or parties that are within the close circle of their social network. By contrast, external sources of financing such as banks, government and equity market are notably missing and significantly under-utilized. There are a few explanations for the occurrence of such patterns. First, the pattern reflects Chinese culture in family values. Members of a family and relatives have the obligation to support each other not only emotionally but also financially when necessary. Very often a Chinese entrepreneur would first seek financial support from the inner circle of his or her social network (family members, relatives) before looking into the circle of friends. The external support sources are usually the last resort. Second, the pattern may also suggest the fact the external support for entrepreneurial development is inadequate and under-developed. There may be limited financial support available for Chinese entrepreneurs. Historically, China has been a planned economy and almost all governmental resources have been devoted to support state-owned enterprises (SOEs). In recent years, money losing SOEs have become increasingly more dependent on financial support from state-controlled banks to provide loans as a way to survive. There is mounting pressure to save these non-performing SOEs to keep employment and social stability. As a result, little financial resources have been allocated to promote the creation of private free enterprises. To a certain extent, the Chinese government’s strong commitment in entrepreneurial development as a key economic policy has not yet materialized. Additionally, venture capital is still an emerging industry in China. The late 90s dotcom frenzy creates a momentum for the development of Chinese venture capital industry. The majority of venture capital investment has been concentrated in a few big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, with a focus on technology-based sectors. Such a source of financing is still off limits to entrepreneurs in other cities and in other sectors. Additionally, the Chinese equity market has such very stringent listing criteria that only well established and large companies can meet them. This source of financing is still not on the radar screen of Chinese entrepreneurs. In more recent years, the Chinese government is developing a “secondary board” for the listing of small startups. We believe that this is certainly a right step in the right direction for the economic development of China