The breezy spring is a season for talents. On April 17th-19th, 2018, the Hong Kong parallel session of the 16th Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP), jointly hosted by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) and the People’s Government of Shenzhen Municipality, raised the curtain at InterContinental Hong Kong.

It was the first time that the conference had a parallel session in Hong Kong. Under the theme of “Gathering Talents in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area”, the session made full use of the advantages of Shenzhen’s proximity to Hong Kong, highlighting the talent cooperation needs of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. With the policy promotion event, the talent cooperation forum of the Greater Bay Area, talent exchange meetings, and visits to famous university and enterprises, the session promoted the cooperation and exchange of talents in the Greater Bay Area with a broader vision, higher target requirements, and more strong measures. Nearly 130 people from all walks of life in Hong Kong’s education, business, and entrepreneurial communities were invited to the opening ceremony. At the opening ceremony, Luo Jie, Deputy Director of the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality, said in his address that the CIEP Hong Kong parallel session was a good platform, which might use the advantages of neighboring Hong Kong and Macao to promote the construction of a comprehensive R&D base and gradually build a series of joint innovation and development systems of talents, capital, R&D, manufacturing, and industry in the Greater Bay Area. Witt the Hong Kong parallel session, we could further promote talent exchange and cooperation between Hong Kong and the Mainland, achieve cross-regional cooperation, complement each other’s advantages, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, thus providing strong talent and intellectual support for the country's economic development.

At the policy promotion event, government delegations from Pingshan of Shenzhen, Changsha, Qingyuan, Chengdu, Zhaoqing, and other cities actively promoted the policy of attracting talents, eliminating the doubts of employment for high-end talents, and providing the best guarantee for outstanding talents.

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Talent Cooperation Forum was an important section of the parallel session. A number of famous people and scholars were invited to attend the session, including Peng Qiming, General Manager of Beijing-Hong Kong Talent Exchange Center, Li Ming, former executive of China Taiping Insurance Group and former Deputy Director of Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality, Francis Snyder, chair professor of School of Transnational Law, Peking University, Hang Tong, Deputy Dean of the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Manufacturing of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Huang Shenping, Secretary General of the European International Talent Exchange Association. In the forum, they discussed the talent demand, talent training modes, and the construction of the talent ecosystem in the new era.

At the talent exchange meeting, nearly 70 well-known enterprises such as CCTV, BYD, Galanz, Weichai Power, China Resources Group, China Travel Group, Luxin Group, Royole, Vanke, and Ping An Technology provided a total of 166 jobs. The total number of positions for recruitment was up to 374. The atmosphere of the exchange was very hot, with 1983 attendees. For each position, there were 5 people at average to be interviewed. 305 people reached preliminary intention on the spot, and the initial intention rate was 15.4%.

Besides, the guests from enterprises and the government will visit famous universities in Hong Kong to understand their development and discuss with relevant departments of employment on the supply and demand of high-end talents and the training of specific talents, in order to achieve the goal of high-end talent introduction and cooperation of production, studies, and research in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. They will also visit the well-known Hong Kong company Lee Kum Kee, for in-depth understanding of the company’s development history, operation mode, and human resources management methods, to provide new ideas and new ways for the development of Mainland enterprises.