FOREIGN experts working in Shenzhen can apply for a subsidy for this year under the national Global Experts Recruitment Program, also known as the Thousand Talents Plan, starting this week, according to a notice from the Shenzhen Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

To be eligible, the employers of the foreign experts must be domestically owned enterprises or institutions, or joint ventures with over 50 percent of its shares held by Chinese.

The program was initiated by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs to introduce leading scientists or talents who are able to make breakthroughs in key technologies or enhance China’s high-tech industries and emerging industries.

Talents involved in the program will enjoy preferential policies in terms of exit and entry, residence, medical care, insurance, housing, tax and salary.

A lump sum of 1 million yuan (US$158,000) in subsidies shall be granted to each talent enrolled, and a total of 3-5 million yuan in research subsidies will be granted, through the employers, to those engaged in scientific research, particularly those in basic science research, according to the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

Under the program, the eligible foreign applicants are required to work for at least nine months per year in China for three consecutive years.

The applicants should hold doctoral degrees, work as professors at universities or research institutes or as professionals or managers in senior executive posts at well-known international institutions. They should be under the age of 65 on Aug. 31, 2018, according to the Shenzhen Foreign Experts Affairs Administration.

Employers can apply to the administration after signing official employment contracts with the candidates by uploading their applications to the system at http://pingshen.1000plan.org by Aug. 31.

First-time applicants will need to send application forms to zhuanxiangban@1000plan.org to receive their pin codes after their applications are verified.

They will also need to send the paper materials to the administration by July 6.

In 2014, Mark Salman Humayun and researcher Oliver Deussen, two foreign scientists with Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, were accepted into the Thousand Talents Plan.

They each received 1 million yuan and a research subsidy of 5 million yuan under the program.

They were also granted the honorary title of Distinguished National Expert.

(Han Ximin)