District attracts experts with policies

In giving priority to increased innovation, the Guangzhou Development District in Guangdong province has become a prime destination for a growing number of leading professionals from home and abroad.

Li Xuejun, deputy director of the organization and personal bureau of the GDD in the provincial capital, Guangzhou, said the district has become a core model zone for proprietary innovation in the city and began to take the lead in introducing preferential policies to attract talents in 2008.

"The GDD has attracted 34 members from Chinese academies of sciences and engineering, plus many leading talents from home and abroad," Li said.

"These experts who have settled down in the district are playing an increasingly important role in promoting the GDD's scientific innovation and construction of the district's entire economy," Li said.

To attract experts, the GDD has set up a number of innovation parks, industrial development zones and incubators to accommodate high-tech companies and their research and development centers, Li said.

In addition to financial support, the GDD has also introduced a series of policies to assist new businesses through taxation, housing, education, communication, employment, healthcare, academic exchanges and simplified entry and exit procedures, Li said.

The GDD is expecting to attract talents in the industries of new materials, biomedicine, electronic information and technological innovation, Li said.

The district has built many platforms to help talents from home and abroad to visit, start up businesses and settle down there throughout the past few years.

The GDD annually organizes Chinese students who are studying or conducting research abroad to participate in the Convention on Exchanges of Overseas Talents, the Exchanges of International Talents and related events in Guangzhou, and to share their experiences.

Special forums, academic exchanges and lectures are organized every year to enable overseas professionals to learn more about the GDD's investment policies and economic climate.

The GDD hopes to become a destination of international experts, suitable for work, business, learning and living, Li added.

By the end of last month, the GDD had invested more than 200 million yuan ($29.41 million) in attracting experts.

As a result, the district has registered 79 companies established by high-level talents. Companies in the district run by high-end talents generated 31.7 billion yuan in industrial output value last year.

Li Shengfeng, chief executive officer of Bio-Thera Solutions, said his company is enjoying rapid development in the GDD, which provides preferential polices and investment opportunities.

Li's company, which is building a 40,000-square-meter production facility, mainly researches and produces new-generation antibody medicines to treat tumors, cardiovascular and auto-immune diseases.

Li said he expects antibody drugs developed and produced by his company to become the first China-made biomedicines to enter North America and Europe in the coming years.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/20/2016 page11)