Hunt for human capital heats up

Magnetic appeal

According to a report on the talent attractiveness of Chinese cities in 2025, which was released last month, Beijing ranks first, followed by Shanghai and Shenzhen in Guangdong province. The other cities in the top 10 are Hangzhou, Guangzhou in Guangdong, Suzhou in Jiangsu, Chengdu in Sichuan province, Nanjing, Wuhan in Hubei and Wuxi in Jiangsu.

An introduction to the report, jointly published by experts from Zeping Macro, a private economic research team, and the recruitment portal Zhaopin, points out that while the population of a city is the foundation for all socioeconomic activities, talent is its primary resource for growth.

"People move with industries and people move to higher ground," the report said, noting that as the population concentration increases in metropolises and other big cities, the value of talent becomes more prominent amid fading demographic dividend.

While China's top 10 cities attracting maximum talent remain the same as last year, Hangzhou and Suzhou have risen in rank.

Beijing has held the topmost rank for several consecutive years due to its huge advantages in terms of salary package, diversified industrial structure and concentration of top universities and research institutions.

Shanghai, with its large, steadily growing economy and booming high-tech and modern service sectors, has been a clear second, while Shenzhen has remained stable in the third place in recent years with its robust innovation capacity and lower household registration barriers.

Among the top 50 talent magnet cities of last year, 36 are in eastern China, six each are in the central and western regions, and two are in the northeastern part of the country, according to the report released in May.

Seven cities of Guangdong are among these top 50, while all 11 prefecture-level cities of Zhejiang have made it to the list.

Another report on the most attractive cities for the post-1995 generation, which was released late last year, said that China has approximately 200 million people in that age group and they are redefining the competitive landscape of Chinese cities.

The top three cities for talent from the post-1995 generation are Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai, which are followed in order by Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuxi and Tianjin.