City retains professionals by providing better conditions

Ningbo, one of the first cities open to foreign trade in Zhejiang province, has achieved outstanding results in attracting global talents.

The city is home to 1.92 million talents, including 8,000 high-caliber ones from overseas. There are 75 professionals who are listed on the nation's "1,000 Talents Plan" and 198 on the provincial-level "1,000 Talents Plan" in Ningbo, according to local authorities.

Ningbo's decision makers believe talented individuals are the most valuable resources for a city's development and have long been committed to attracting and retaining them.

"For cities to have sustainable development, they must compete for talented people," said Zhang Liangcai, deputy director of Ningbo Human Resources Department.

Ningbo has insisted on providing favorable policies and premium services to talents in the past few years.

The newly released 25-talent policies offer a full range of support to experts employed in the city in 2015.

Ningbo's 3,315 Plan, released in 2011, runs in line with the central government's 1,000 Talents Plan. It is a foreign engineers' program that seeks to bring new expertise to the city.

Individuals or teams listed in this program will be provided with up to 20 million yuan ($2.99 million) in subsidies. Top talents will be eligible for up to 100 million yuan in subsidies.

A total of 333 overseas experts and 97 teams have been included in the 3,315 Plan, according to Zhang.

Apart from providing policies, Ningbo has also progressed in building business platforms in an effort to develop industrial clusters. Yuyao 1,000 Talents Plan Industrial Park, developed in 2012, has become the place gathering talents in new materials, new energy, electronic information, medical equipment and bio-science.

Businesses in the park have thus far registered 71 hightech projects, among which, 29 projects have begun operations.

Lead by Konfoong Materials International Co Chairman and President Yao Lijun, a target materials development and production chain has been established in Yuyao.

Apart from Yuyao, Ningbo has also developed New Materials Technology City and the International Marine Ecology Technology City to promote related industries' development.

Zhang said the New Materials Technology City has attracted 60,000 experts, including 92 national and provincial-level "1,000 Talents Plan" experts. There will be five national-level research and development organizations in the International Marine Ecology Technology City.

Ningbo strongly encourages the human resources service industry development to match talent market demand and supply. There are more than 750 human resource service organizations which can generate more than 10 billion yuan in annual income.

The city also implemented new performance evaluation mechanisms so all talents have development opportunities.

Improving the working and living environment plays a crucial role in supporting Ningbo's talent strategy, Zhang said.

"We promote a nurturing service model to provide active services to talents throughout their stay in Ningbo," he said.

(China Daily 09/24/2016 page7)