Chinanews, Beijing, Mar. 31 – 16 Chinese governmental departments, including the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, have jointly issued a document on setting up a “green channel” to encourage high-level overseas talents to come back to serve the country. According to this document, overseas talents who have made great contributions in certain fields can be awarded the honorable title of Young and Middle-aged Expert with Outstanding Contributions, or receive government fund award issued by the State Council.
According to this document, high-level overseas Chinese talents, once recognized by related governments, will no longer be restrained by governmental department hiring limitations, such as hiring quotas, employment quotas, salary standards, or factors like Permanent Residence Permit. Their salaries should be linked with their personal capabilities, work performance, and their contributions to the work unit. High-level overseas talents have the same chance as mainland talents in participation in various key national research projects, such as the State Natural Science Foundation project, the "863" National High-Tech Research and Development Program, and the "973" National High-Tech Research and Development Program. And for those urgently needed personnel, the Ministry of Personnel will work with related departments to allocate them special research funds. High-level overseas talents will also enjoy a set of preferential policies when living in or going in and out of China.
The document stipulates that China should introduce high-level overseas talents on the principle of “smaller in quantity but better in quality.” The introduction work can be done in various flexible ways and should proceed in light of the concrete situations. However, the goal of the work should be in line with China's proposal for building an innovation-oriented country, meet the state's demand for human resources in certain key developmental areas or industrial sectors, and follow the state policies of West Development Strategy, Rejuvenation of Old Industrial Bases in Northeast China, and Resurgence of the Middle Region.
Statistics show that by the end of 2006, China had a total of 1.07 million overseas students and the number of overseas students who came back after graduation reached 275,000. In 2006 alone, some 42,000 overseas students came back, increasing by 21.3% from the previous year. The number of overseas students who return to China has been on the increase year on year.
