Picking the best experts

Despite its rapid economic growth over the past three decades, China still needs experts, especially in the field of natural sciences, to catch up with developed countries.

That the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs had to initiate a program late last year to recruit 500 to 1,000 highly qualified and experienced non-Chinese experts from foreign countries in 10 years shows the importance the central government attaches to the need.

True, China surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest economy last year and the country has never enjoyed such a high economic growth rate. But being the second largest economy does not necessarily mean China is also the second strongest.