Survey study: China's attraction to overseas students continues to increase

Survey study: China's attraction to overseas students continues to increase China is a hot spot for realizing dreams. my country's attraction to international talents continues to increase (survey study)...

China is a hot spot for realizing dreams. my country's attraction to international talents continues to increase (survey study)

"People's Daily" ( Edition 14, October 23, 2017)

Talent flow has its own rules. In the process of economic globalization, developed economies occupy the high end of the industrial chain, and high-quality global resources such as talents have been gathering in developed economies for a long time. Since the reform and opening up, my country's comprehensive national strength and global influence have continued to improve, making it more and more attractive to talents. After the outbreak of the international financial crisis in 2008, the development of some developed economies was in trouble, but our country's economy has always maintained sustained and healthy development, and more and more international talents have chosen China as a place to realize their dreams.

In order to better understand the development level of international talent competitiveness in various regions in China, the China and Globalization Think Tank and the Development Research Institute of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics conducted an overall and sub-regional assessment of China's regional international talent competitiveness from six aspects: international talent scale, structure, innovation, policy, development and life, and compiled the "China Regional International Talent Competitiveness Report (2017)". This assessment was conducted on the premise of fully absorbing and drawing on domestic and foreign talent competitiveness research experience and obtaining authoritative data. The evaluation results show that Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong and Jiangsu have become regions with higher overall scores for international talent competitiveness. With their overall advantages in economic development, industrial innovation, international cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, these four regions form the first echelon of China's regional international talent competitiveness. The second tier consists of other eastern coastal provinces and provinces with better development in the central and western regions.

Research has found that the direction of talent flow is undergoing a trend change in recent years. Many people who originally left China to seek development overseas have returned home, bringing with them international knowledge, professional skills and interpersonal networks. According to data from the Ministry of Education, in 2016, about 545,000 people studied abroad in my country, and about 433,000 people returned from studying abroad, with the return rate reaching 79.43%. The talent dividend brought by the return of talents has become one of the advantages of our country's future development. In addition, the attractiveness of my country's development to other international talents is also increasing. For example, there are more than 62 million overseas Chinese, including nearly 4 million professionals. They are widely distributed in education, finance, high-tech and other industries. Many of them have become world-class scientists, engineers, and senior management talents. In recent years, many of them have chosen to start a business and settle down in China.

The reason why our country can bring together so many international talents is closely related to the high importance our country attaches to talent work. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has paid more attention to the construction of talent teams. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out that more than at any time in history, we need to open up the road to talents and recruit talents from all over the world. We must implement a more open talent policy. We do not only introduce talents from regions, do not seek to develop talents from all areas, and use talents in an eclectic way. In order to form an internationally competitive talent system advantage, fully develop and utilize international talent resources, and actively participate in international talent competition, my country has formulated relevant policies and measures to improve the introduction of overseas talents and provide more convenient and efficient services for their entry, exit, employment and residence. For example, in 2016, the Ministry of Public Security launched 10 entry-exit policy measures to support the construction of the Fujian Pilot Free Trade Zone and 16 entry-exit policy measures to support the construction and innovation-driven development of the Guangdong Free Trade Zone. With the implementation of new policies to attract international talents in various places, my country's international talent introduction work continues to make new progress.

Of course, in order to further enhance the attractiveness of international talents, our country still has a lot of work that needs to be continuously improved. For example, further strengthen the top-level design for the introduction of international talents and establish a specialized international talent management agency; strengthen the operability of policies, continue to play the leading and demonstration role of national innovation zones in the introduction of international talents, and actively explore the international high-end talent sharing model in urban agglomerations; further strengthen the construction of urban soft power, improve the competitiveness of regional international talents from the aspects of natural environment, urban civilization and living facilities; establish international talent cooperation organizations and create a professional platform for international talent coordination services; etc. Driven by scientific talent thinking and effective work measures, my country's attraction to international talents will be comprehensively enhanced, thus providing a strong talent guarantee for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

(Author: Wang Huiyao is the director of China and Globalization Think Tank and counselor of the State Council)