QINGDAO is now working on attracting professionals studying abroad to work and set up businesses in the city.

More than 10,000 high-end professionals have returned from overseas to settle down in the city.

The city has implemented several regulations and plans to attract more high-end Chinese professionals from overseas in recent years, offering preferential policies and providing support for them to work and live in the city.

For example, those who already have foreign citizenship can apply for foreign expert certificates in Qingdao and qualified high-end professionals can receive subsidies of 300,000 to 1 million yuan to buy houses. For those who brings technologies, projects or capital to start a business in Qingdao, the city will award them 1 million yuan to support their business. High-end technological professionals can receive research funds of 300,000 to 1 million yuan. In 2010, the city gave out more than 200 million yuan to support 14 programs and eight creative teams.

The city also plans to attract 300 high-end professionals in marine research, advanced manufacturing and modern logistics from foreign countries in three to five years.

So far, more than 200 professionals have settled in the city with the help of the program and 80 percent of them with PhDs have played key roles at overseas universities, research organizations and large international companies.

They mainly work in areas such as marine science, new materials, new energy, electronics and information.

(Wang Yuanyuan, Jia Feng)