THE “2016 Overseas Chinese Talents Visit Beijing” activity launched last July was jointly organized by the Organization Department of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, and the Beijing Overseas Talents Center (BOTC). Targeting top-tier talents, the activity features a series of sub-activities, such as the Beijing Forum for Overseas Talents, panel discussions where returnees are invited to share their experience of working or starting a business in Beijing, startup competition, as well as other activities that allow overseas talents to directly meet with domestic employers and investors. Participants were also invited to attend related activities held in neighboring Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province, which are expected to enter into collaborative development with Beijing, so offering a wider platform and more choices for overseas talents.

Highly-talented

Around 300 top-tier talents from 14 countries and regions, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., Germany, France, and Japan, etc., applied to participate in the activity. To make the event more effective, the organizers invited professionals from startup incubators and Human Resources (HR) managers of domestic companies to assess applicants’ qualifications and their entrepreneurial projects. They finally selected 111 whose specialties meet the demands of Beijing’s industrial transformation. The number of participants hit a record high this year. Over 83 percent of the invited talents had doctoral degrees and were looking to start a career in Beijing. Their entrepreneurial projects touched 16 areas, including biomedicine, electronic information, financial management, culture and education, new energy, and new materials, etc.

Since June 2009, when Beijing unveiled the plan to scout for overseas high-level talents, as many as 765 experts and entrepreneurs have been recruited under the Beijing Overseas Talents Program, 206 of whom were also admitted to the state-level Recruitment Program of Global Experts. The Beijing Overseas Talents Program aims to attract high-tech talents with an international perspective who are willing to innovate and build their own businesses, so meeting Beijing’s need to build a high-grade, advanced industrial base. Of this number, 13 people have been academicians, including Shao Feng, vice director of the National Institute of Biological Sciences in Beijing, and also the youngest member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Yu Kongjian, dean of College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture of Peking University, an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Over 10 enterprises created by returnees through the Beijing Oversea Talents Program have gone public, generating great social and economic dividends.

A talent signs a letter of intent with an employer of Beijing Municipal Commission of Transportation.

At the 2016 Beijing Forum for Overseas Talents, Li Shixin, deputy director of the Organization Department of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, made a speech on behalf of the organizers. Li said that Beijing endeavors to attract overseas top-tier talents and enable them to implement their brilliant ideas. Yuan Fang, BOTC director, expounded on how Beijing introduces, assesses, recruits and provides services for foreign-educated talents. Against the background of promoting Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei’s coordinated development, the organizers also invited representatives from relevant departments in Tianjin and Hebei to introduce their policies on overseas talents. The forum is hosted by Chen Bei, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security.

Sharing the Experience

Some of the talents signed letters of intent with domestic employers at the forum. The BOTC signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the All-Japan Federation of Overseas Chinese Professionals. It stipulated that the two sides engage in cooperation covering overseas liaison and talent recommendation. So far the BOTC has established strategic cooperation with 20 overseas organizations. Cai Maolin, co-founder of Beijing Ecoso Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and expert on the Beijing Overseas Talents Program and Recruitment Program of Global Experts, made a speech as a representative of returned talents to share his experience of starting a business in Beijing. Li Feng, co-founder and partner of Frees Fund (Fengrui Fund), made a speech introducing the business and regulatory environment for startups in Beijing.

Talents with entrepreneurship projects meet face-to-face with industry experts, venture investors and managers of startup incubators.

In order to help overseas talents better understand the domestic climate for innovation and entrepreneurship and dispel their misgivings, the organizers invited outstanding representatives of the Recruitment Program of Global Experts and the Beijing Overseas Talents Program to share their experience in starting businesses and working in Beijing. Among them were Doctor Ke Xiaoxing, an expert on the microstructure and properties of solids from the Beijing University of Technology, Doctor Lan Feng of the Beijing Anzhen Hospital of Capital Medical University and Beijing Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood Vessel Diseases, Liu Hongyu, president of Prosit Sole Biotechnology Co., Ltd., and Chen Zhongsu, chairman of Global View Technology Development Co., Ltd.

Outstanding representatives of returnees are invited to share their experience in creating businesses and working in Beijing.

In addition, the BOTC staff especially arranged an hour for visiting talents to talk face-to-face with speakers who had shared their experience.

Tailored Services

To help overseas talents better understand the favorable policies and services they can enjoy in Beijing, as well as the problems they may encounter, the organizers utilized the resources of the BOTC Training Department to provide a training class. Lu Changjiang, vice director of the BOTC, made a speech at the opening of the training class. Zhou Weiying, director of the BOTC Talent Development Department, and Xu Jinghong, director of the BOTC General Service Department, expounded on the policies of the Beijing Overseas Talents Program and services provided to returned talents who intend to work or launch startup projects in Beijing. Their efforts were highly appreciated.

Zhai Tianrui, vice director of the HR Department of Beijing University of Technology, which has employed many top-tier overseas talents, was invited as a representative of employers to introduce relevant policies and services for returned talents. Zhang Chao, CEO of Jianfabang, an Internet-based company that assists new entrepreneurs compose legal documents, then explained legal issues regarding dividing equity between startup founders, making employee stock option plans, and equity trading. He also answered questions from the audience.

During the startup competition that targets talents in areas such as electronic information and biomedicine, industry experts, venture investors and managers of startup incubators were invited to evaluate entrepreneurial projects. Venture investors and incubator managers also spoke directly with competitors if they were interested in their projects. Another highlight of this year’s competition was a sub-competition held at the University of Oxford, the top three winners of which received an invitation to the 2016 Overseas Talents Visit Beijing activity.

Direct Exchange

During a talent fair held at the same time, Pan Suyan, vice director of Beijing Administration of Hospitals, and Ji Qiming from the HR Department of Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, listed employer requirements and introduced basic facts regarding some of the hospitals and colleges in Beijing. Then employers from over 20 institutions, including hospitals, colleges and companies, directly interacted with job-hunting participants. Many achieved their initial intentions at the fair.

Overseas talents who venture to start businesses in Beijing were invited to visit the Beijing Technological Development Area and Zhongguancun Startup Incubator for Overseas Returnees. There they learned about the policies of different startup hubs. Overseas talents hoping to find a work in Beijing were invited to visit the Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Beijing University of Technology, and Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture to see the working environment and learn about relevant requirements and policies.

This year some participants were invited to visit Zhangjiakou in Hebei, co-host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Some were invited to Beijing International Convention Center to engage in an academic discussion on the topic “Internet plus wisdom” with representatives of the Recruitment Program of Global Experts and the Beijing Overseas Talents Program, as well as scientists from the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Israel.

Participants admitted that this year’s event enabled their direct exchange with staff of institutions such as Zhongguancun Development Group, Wanzhong Financial Services, and Beijing Amphra Venture Capital Investment Co., Ltd., as well as employers and staff of some startup incubators. This was a great opportunity for them to comprehensively understand Beijing’s innovation and entrepreneurial environment. Many displayed interest in returning to their homes after attending the activities.

This was the 6th Overseas Talents Visit Beijing activity, which has built a bridge between overseas Chinese talents and Beijing. By introducing Beijing’s business climate and policies to overseas talents, the activity has laid a solid foundation for attracting foreign-educated talents in the future.    

(Compiled by China Today)