Mon, November 02, 2009
BEIJING, Nov. 2 -- Students returning from overseas studies are being urged to launch businesses along the Liaoning Coastal Economic Belt as part of a special promotional week, organized by local authorities in the region.
Billed as the "Overseas Chinese Scholars Liaoning (Dalian) Week", the initiative was launched on October 22 in the Dalian High-tech Industrial Zone. It is the tenth time that the province has staged the event, which this year is aimed at returning high-end professionals.
Under guidelines laid down for the project, Liaoning will give priority to the development of a number of key industries over the next five years. It has sub-divided its efforts on the basis of "tens, hundreds and thousands."
In terms of the "tens", it will seek to attract relatively small numbers of highly-skilled scientific and technological individuals, capable of overseeing the development of its target industries.
On the "hundreds" front, it will incentivize several hundreds of individuals who have made breakthroughs in the international science and technology sector and who are able to head a research and development team of an international caliber.
The "thousands" refer to the province's undertaking to lure several thousands of business leaders who have secured independent intellectual property rights and demonstrated a clear capacity for innovation in the academic or technological field.
It will also seek to attract experienced managers who are familiar with international protocols and have global operational abilities.
After learning of the province's incentive policies, Cao Chuanhai, a doctorate degree-level overseas Chinese student, decided to return to China to run his own business. "Liaoning coastal economic belt and its policies really called out to my heart," he said.
According to the Liaoning provincial government, the high-end individuals, identified as part of the "Tens, hundreds and thousands" initiative, will each enjoy appropriate financial aid and a number of preferential policies.
The highly sought after professionals in the "Tens" category, for instance, will be given a launch funding of five million yuan, a subsidy of 500,000 yuan for relocation, a monthly subsidy of 5,000 yuan and a free apartment of no less than 150 sq m in size.
The returning student week was first launched in 2000 and has now become an important means for the province to attract high caliber individuals.
This year local government officials from 14 cities in the province, as well as a number of large- and medium-sized State-owned enterprises, highlighted 2,000 high-end positions available to overseas students.
Following the lead event in Dalian, other cities, including Benxi, Chaoyang, Huludao and Yingkou, hosted their own version of the initiative.
Luan Qingwei, director of the Dalian High-Tech Industrial Park Administration Committee, said that nearly 1,000 overseas Chinese students have returned to the Liaoning coastal economic belt for funding for their technology projects in just the last three years.
Luan said: "In the Dalian High-Tech Industrial Park alone, nearly one-third of the 400 medium- and small-sized science and technology enterprises are run by overseas Chinese students. Many of them settled here after the implementation of the Liaoning coastal economic belt strategy in 2005."
Lin Feng, who holds a doctoral degree and currently works in the United States, introduced his gene vaccine technology at this year's promotional week. He reached technology cooperation agreements with more than a dozen senior executives and government leaders during his visit.
Reflecting on his experience, Lin said: "The Dalian Week is not only a platform for overseas Chinese students to gain information, it is the ideal way to match high-end and new technology projects."
The "Overseas Chinese Scholars Project" launched by the Dalian government on January 1 this year and aimed at persuading a high-level of overseas professionals to launch businesses in the city, has also received a positive response.
Statistics show that, since the launch of the program, it has attracted 135 projects from 120 individuals, with nearly 60 percent of the applicants holding doctorial degrees. Nearly half of the projects are related to the software information service industry, a priority for development in Dalian.
Dai Yulin, deputy mayor of Dalian, said that the city will continue to refine its policies for attracting overseas Chinese students in order to ensure they remain appropriate.
Dai said: "If any overseas Chinese students looking to do business in Dalian encounter any problems, they can email me. I will address the issue with the relevant department. In this way, we can solve any problems that occur."
(Source: China Daily)
