TALENT RECRUITMENT EFFORTS BOOST HAICANG'S ECONOMY

District in Xiamen has developed high-tech sectors with platforms to benefit key workers

When the central government called on local authorities to help boost the economy by providing incentives to recruit top professional staff, the leaders of Xiamen's Haicang district, in East China's Fujian province, responded enthusiastically - and effectively.

Haicang's government has set a goal to build the district into "a world-class bay area" in upcoming years.

The district, which has been committed to developing industrial clusters in the integrated circuits, biopharmaceuticals and new materials sectors, has focused in recent years on the creation of platforms to support talented workers, setting up practical policies to cultivate professionals and providing premium services to retain professionals. It has also paid close attention to enhancing education and healthcare quality.

Build platforms

Over the past few years, Haicang has built an 8 square kilometers IC production center and a 42,000 square meters IC design center. It has become a hub for semiconductor products manufacturing in China.

Statistics from the zone show that five manufacturing and 13 design projects have been contracted to settle in Haicang in 2018, with a total investment of 35 billion yuan ($5.09 billion). Those projects have attracted more than 200 professionals to the zone.

In 2018, Haicang invested nearly 1.2 billion yuan in the building of a biomedicines industrial park, which covers 10 million sq m. The park is home to 318 biopharmaceuticals companies and more than 18,000 professionals. It is also a national pilot zone, attracting strategic emerging industries to Fujian province.

The district also established several innovation platforms to turn scientists' ideas into reality. Haicang has established platforms for biomedicines testing and analysis, in vitro diagnostic equipment public services and chemical drugs development. It also launched a biopharmaceuticals public service platform, which has provided more than 6,000 services to relevant parties, according to the local government.

Among their moves to attract talent, Haicang officials made sure to enhance public services for residents.

The district has invested 1.34 billion yuan this year to build 20 new schools, boosting the overall number of schools in the area to 92. It also partnered with seven tertiary education service providers in China, including the Beijing Normal University, to launch education cooperation programs in the district. It has become the only region in Xiamen to promote a model that allows teachers in public schools to be employed by schools but managed by district or county-level governments.

To attract more excellent teachers to the region, a total of 3.38 million yuan in rental subsidies were provided to 326 teachers this year. The district also launched a nationwide recruitment program to attract outstanding people from around China to Haicang. This year, a total 209 people from across the country became teachers in the district.

Five hospitals and healthcare service centers started construction or operation in 2018 to serve the growing demands of residents. District officials also worked with leading national hospitals, such as the Chinese PLA General Hospital and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, on seven projects. By establishing medical service departments covering eight types of fields such as respiratory care, the district successfully brought in 133 healthcare experts.

Practical policies

Over the past few years, many policies have been developed to support the growth of key industries such as integrated circuits, biopharmaceuticals and new materials. The local government said that when industrial development plans are enacted, there would be talent-centered policies to support those plans.

In recent years, two preferential policies covering 30 areas - including professional recruitment, training, children's education and housing - have been released. The district provided a total of 8.4 million yuan in supportive funds to 106 experts in the region in 2018.

The district launched supportive policies for professionals in the biomedical sector in 2012, and it has become a hub for experts from relevant industries.

This year, it partnered with the Development Center For Medical Science and Technology at the National Health Commission to create a development plan for Haicang's biomedical industry. Modifications will also be made on its support policies for professional staff, according to the zone.

Premium services

Haicang also developed a new professionals performance evaluation mechanism, which will take opinions from a larger circle of relevant parties into consideration than previous mechanisms.

It launched a professional title system for people in the biomedicines sector that has attracted a great deal of attention from the industry. In 2018, a total of 91 people applied for professional title assessments.

Experts from the regional association for biomedical industry were invited to participate in the professional title assessment process to ensure professionals' opinions will be taken into consideration.

A reform was also made in the professional title system for teachers.

After years of development, Haicang district has established a professionals service model that involves the local government, industrial parks, fund companies and a professional commission, according to the local government.

In 2018, the government solved 185 manpower or operation-related problems raised by companies. Officials also made more than 700 visits to companies and provided 150 million yuan in funds to businesses. Seven funds with overall capital of 2.6 billion yuan were established, and there was also a fund set up to support the integrated circuits industry.

To date, the district has 11 listed companies, 13 National Equities Exchange and Quotations, also known as New Third Board-listed companies and 20 companies with strong potential to be listed on the capital markets. Three listed companies alone reported 2.87 billion yuan operating income in the first three quarters of this year, according to the Haicang district government.

Companies are encouraged to provide more training to professionals. Partnerships have also been established between 10 companies and eight academic institutes. More than 100 engineers from IC companies in Haicang participated in a training program in December.

The Haicang government pays great attention to promoting communications between local professionals and their counterparts around the world. It has organized a series of summits covering areas such as integrated circuits and biopharmaceuticals.

Training programs were also organized for healthcare service providers, as well as teachers in kindergartens and schools.

Experts in Haicang are encouraged to take on more social responsibilities. Professionals were invited to attend consulting programs to offer their suggestions to the local government. The district government also organized 49 workshops led by leading teachers to provide lectures on a broad range of topics. In the healthcare sector, the district established a mechanism that allows qualified doctors to work in more than one hospital, thus better serving residents.

Professional skills competitions, which attracted more than 1,000 contestants over the past three years, have won a great deal of attention.

(China Daily 12/06/2018 page7)