Suzhou Special: Suzhou: Future in returning and foreign talent

The Suzhou International Elites Entrepreneurship Week that begins on July 8 is expected to attract more than 4,000 participants, according to organizers.

Founded in 2009, the annual event shows the world that the host city Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu province more than ever values top experts and building a startup-friendly environment, local officials said.

This year's event will offer investment opportunities in high-tech startups, entrepreneurship contests and meetings on biomedicine and research.

Organizers said more than 3,500 experts - about 90 percent of them from abroad - have presented some 3,600 high-tech projects to investors at the event over the past three years.

Of the participants, 74 percent had PhDs and 23.4 percent held master's degrees.

The three previous sessions resulted in 512 new projects, all in the city's key emerging industries, organizers said.

As China's second-largest manufacturing center with well-established infrastructure and an extensive industrial chain, Suzhou is now emphasizing development of human resources, local officials said.

The upcoming Entrepreneurship Week will focus on attracting high-quality experts in emerging and high-tech industries, a reflection of the city's priority on human resources.

Imported high-quality human resources can also inject new vigor into traditional industries, according to the city government.

Home to 141 Fortune 500 companies, Suzhou has been listed among the best business cities on the Chinese mainland three times by Forbes magazine and termed a gold medal city for investment environment by the World Bank. More than 40,000 foreigners and some 6,000 returning Chinese experts now work in the city.

Feeling at home

"Located in the dynamic Yangtze River Delta and close to China's business hub Shanghai, Suzhou has distinct geographic advantages, and its services and infrastructure facilities are at the forefront of the country, not to mention its appealing living environment," said Lou Zheng, president of Jiangsu Gongda Power Technology Ltd Co.

"Where else could be better for a startup? So I decided to settle here."

Liu Chunyan, vice-president of Suzhou Uking Crystal Technology Co Ltd, said "the support and services provided by the government here is totally beyond imagination".

"All the administrative procedures for starting our company, ranging from business location to power supply, were done in a month and a half, which I didn't dare to expect ," said Liu, who had lived in Ukraine for more than 10 years.

"The authorities offer such considerate services and help, proving that in many aspects they've thought more, better and further than we have," she said.

"Without the Entrepreneurship Week, we would not have many opportunities to promote our project," she said, adding that she always invites Ukraine investors to Suzhou during the event.

Song Bo, an expert imported through a national recruitment program, said "Entrepreneurship Week helped me find a path to my career and made my entrepreneurial dream come true so soon".

"The local government has enabled us to realize our own potential in our motherland, especially in a friendly atmosphere where we feel at home - a common feeling shared among the returned Chinese," Song said.

Recruitment programs

Suzhou has attracted 19 top experts through a national recruitment program. In addition, provincial recruitment programs have drawn 30 experts and the city's own efforts brought in 40, said Wang Qinghua, director of the Suzhou human resources and social security bureau.

Startup companies developed by those professionals in turn attracted close to 4 billion yuan ($628 million) in investment, Wang said.

Viewing human resources as central to overall competitiveness, the bureau is planning a range of measures to make Suzhou the first choice for innovation and startups, local officials said.

Initiatives by the bureau - including Entrepreneur Week and recruitment programs - have begun to play a bigger role in boosting the local economy and have expanded from technology companies to include culture, education, tourism and healthcare.

The local government now offers innovative professionals subsidies of up to 2 million yuan for relocation and 4 million yuan for research, in addition to two years of free rent and loans guarantees of up to 5 million yuan, officials said.

Local area authorities in Zhangjiagang, Changshu and Kunshan have also formulated recruitment plans adapted to their needs, with a focus on revitalizing traditional sectors and promoting high-tech industries.

Suzhou's GDP surpassed 1 trillion yuan last year, which Party chief Jiang Hongkun partially attributed to recruitment of experts with startup plans.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/29/2012 page25)