Chen Siqi

vankochensq@163.com

SHENZHEN will intensify its efforts to attract more overseas talent, which is crucial to driving innovation and is the core force behind technological advancements.

This initiative was announced at a press conference held by the city government Thursday, the third in a series of conferences following the Central Government’s recent release of guidelines aimed at furthering comprehensive reforms in Shenzhen.

As per the conference, Shenzhen has ranked among China’s top three cities in terms of talent attraction for four years in a row. The city has also topped the list as the most attractive destination for Gen Zers for two consecutive years. Furthermore, 920 Shenzhen scholars have been recognized among the top 2% of global scientists.

In its next move, Shenzhen will encourage tech leaders and strategic experts in global higher education, research, think tanks, and venture capital sectors to recommend talent to the city.

Policies will be introduced to standardize the criteria and clarify procedures for recognizing overseas talent working in the city. It will also encourage innovative entities to collaborate with partners worldwide and attract overseas talent.

The city will provide long-term and stable funding support for outstanding innovative tech talent with the potential to grow into heavyweight scientists. A prime example is Yan Ning, the founding president of Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation. Within half a year, a state-of-art lab was established at the academy, with over 95% of its researchers directly recruited from overseas.

It also vows strong support to young tech-innovation talent in the early stages of their development.

Shenzhen is now home to more than 550 global tech entrepreneurs and has incubated nearly 70 hard-tech projects, with a total valuation of nearly 1 billion yuan (US$140 million).

Meanwhile, the city will boost the role and effectiveness of education in driving technological innovation, according to the conference.

The city now boasts 17 universities and plans to build more senior high schools. A total of 825,000 basic education seats have been added in the past five years. Data shows that the city’s senior high schools were expected to enroll 137,000 students this year, 9,000 more than last year.