Hundreds of flowers are blooming in Shenzhen as a result of the earlier spring. The 16th Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP) is going to kick off at Shenzhen, the forefront of reform and opening up. It is the only national-level, international, and comprehensive talent and intellectual exchange event in China. More than 4,000 overseas professional organizations, training institutions, universities, technology companies, and human resources organizations from more than 50 countries and regions will participate in the exhibition, which will be attended by more than 8,500 foreign experts and overseas high-level talents and 5,000 innovative entrepreneurial projects. Once again, Shenzhen becomes the focus of global attention!

A Well-established Talent-introduction Event with Strong Attraction

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that “development is the top priority, talent is the top resource, and innovation is the top driving force” at the deliberation of the Guangdong delegation at the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress. At present, China is at the critical point of transforming its development, optimizing the economic structure, and transforming the growth momentum. China will be stronger only by taking the road of innovation-driven development, realizing the smooth transition of the old momentum to the new, and making innovation the first driving force. To be stronger, we need innovation, which relies on talents. Innovation-driven is essentially talent-driven. Talent policies and innovation mechanisms are the focus of the next step of reform. Local and returned overseas talents must be utilized and treated equally, to make them realize their dreams in the motherland.

“The cause of innovation calls for innovative talents. To achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the more talents, the better; the more able, the better.” China in innovation is more eager for talents than at any time in history. With the tenet of “Cooperation & Development” and aiming at an “international, high-end, specialized, quality, marketized, and informationalized” conference, the 15-year-old CIEP has been widely recognized by the talent and intelligence introduction community become a “big name” in the field of introducing overseas talents and intelligence. It has played a positive role in gathering talents for innovation and entrepreneurship at home and abroad, promoting the modernization of talent management capabilities, and building a talent-driven city.

This is a set of statistics for the ten conferences held in Shenzhen from 2007 to 2017: organization participants from 75 countries and regions; more than 41,500 overseas experts, students, and professionals; more than 24,000 domestic units of personnel, intellectual introduction, education, and technology; more than 5,200 expert organizations, training institutions, professional associations, scientific research institutions, talent agencies, and technology enterprises; more than 550 contract signing events, promotion events, seminars, forums; more than 25,000 agreements of talent and intellectual introduction signed; and more than 36,500 job recruitment intentions completed... See the strong attraction!

An Internationalized, High-end, and Specialized Talent Event

“Rivers and seas never refuse the flow of streams. When a country is open up to the globe, it must first promote the opening up of personnel, especially the opening up of talents.” General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that more international talent exchange and cooperation helped us actively learn from the achievements of global civilizations and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of the Chinese civilization.

In today’s world, the flow of goods, information, technology, talents, and cultures as a result of economic globalization and information socialization is like the untenable flow of the Yangtze River. The flow of talents has become the most active factor in international exchanges and cooperation. The opening up of talents is one of the important contents of opening up to the globe. China in development provides a rare opportunity for all kinds of outstanding talents to achieve career progress and value realization. Based on a global perspective, we will implement the strategy of prioritizing talent development, deepen the reform of the institutional mechanism for talents, strengthen the incentive mechanism for talent innovation and entrepreneurship, and implement a more active, open, and effective talent introduction policy. We will broaden the road for global talent introduction. All of these will inject unlimited power into China’s development.

This year is the first year of the new era and coincides with the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up. Therefore, the conference of this year is of great significance. As the first national-level, international, and comprehensive talent event held in Shenzhen after the 19th National Congress of CPC, this year’s conference will continue to increase the scale and content, with the highest degree of internationalization in history. It will be more internationalized, high-end, specialized, quality, marketized, and informationalized. It will make great breakthroughs and innovations in both form and content. The conference seizes the pitch, grasps the hot issues, and closely followed the demand, attracting more overseas high-end talents to serve in China. In both the content setting and the theme of the forum, the conference encourages talents to conduct in-depth exchanges in various fields such as intelligence, technology, and projects, which is closely related to the construction of the “Belt and Road” and the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area”.

Having a Global Vision, Targeting at High-end, and Gathering Global Talents

“Talents help achieve goals and extend the cause.” CIEP has adhered to the concept of innovation and the pursuit of “taste, quality, and brand”. Every conference has tapped resources and actively sought “highlights” and maintained the vigorous vitality of the continued development of the conference.

This year’s conference will set its view to overseas and gather global talents. For the first time, Germany is set as the guest country, and parallel sessions will be set up in Germany and Hong Kong. German expert organizations, scientific research institutions, universities, technology companies, and high-end experts are invited to Shenzhen to participate in the conference. At the same time, the 2nd China (Shenzhen) Innovation and Entrepreneurship International Competition will be held. A total of 1460 projects entered in 9 overseas divisions and 135 projects were selected to the finals. The total prize of the contest is RMB 10.91 million. The winner of a single item can receive a prize of up to RMB 1.4 million.

This year’s conference aims at the high-end and will increase the intensity of the introduction. More than 100 foreign economic and technical expert organizations, foreign science, education, culture, and health expert organizations, and overseas training institutions are invited to participate in the conference, including the US International Executives Council, the French Echanges et Consultations Techniques Internationaux, MATAT of Israeli, and the Australia International Cooperation Association, which will effectively cooperate with the intelligence introduction departments, institutions, and enterprises in various provinces and cities in China. The conference will also hold job fairs for foreign talents and high-end talents, Elite World Job Fair, and job fairs for returned overseas Chinese and high-level talents from Hong Kong.

This year’s conference highlights the effectiveness and emphasizes on project cooperation. In view of the difficulties of specialization, we set up the integrated hall for intelligence introduction, exhibition and cooperation of the achievements of returned overseas talent projects, investment cooperation and exchanges of software talent projects, exhibition and cooperation of the achievements of international vocational education and high-skill talent projects. At the same time, the Shenzhen division of the Sino-Italy, Sino-UK, and Sino-US innovation and entrepreneurship competitions and the International Technology Transfer and Innovation Investment Summit will be held at the parallel session in Longhua District.

Intensifying Intelligence Introduction and Gathering Global Talents

Talent is the first resource for economic and social development, and the most active and positive factor in innovation activities. In recent years, the CPC Municipal Committee and Government of Shenzhen have insisted on giving priority to the development of talents, increasing the intensity of overseas talent introduction, gathering global talents, and maximizing talent innovation to create entrepreneurial vitality. We have developed the “Regulations of Work on Talents of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone” and will actively implement the “Measures to Promote the Prioritized Development of Talents”. We will give great impetus to “Ten Major Talent Projects”,  “Peacock Plan”, and other talent projects, and implement favorable policies on residence, residential registration, children's education, and medicine of talents. As of March 31st, 2018, Shenzhen has confirmed 3,264 “Peacock Plan” talents and granted RMB 1.12 billion of subsidy. In terms of the permits for foreigners working in China, 16,000 foreign talents are working in Shenzhen. Under the “reforms to delegate power, streamline administration and optimize government services”, we increase the direct application channels for overseas students, shorten the processing time, simplify the application materials, and has introduced 100,000 overseas students. We held the talent roadshows and granted the subsidy funds for the early stages of start-up to 947 enterprises of overseas students. A large number of enterprises of returned overseas Chinese, such as Thunder, Royole, Appotronics, ORBBEC, have become an important force for independent innovation and industrial upgrading in Shenzhen. For three consecutive years, we held IEIC overseas and successfully attracted more than 3,000 outstanding projects from 24 countries. Under the theme of “Cooperation & Development”, the Municipal Government and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs jointly held CIEP. Vice Premier Ma Kai praised that the conference has made positive contributions to global talent and intelligence exchanges and cooperation.

“One day, I will be in the waves in full speed, to show my aspirations. Hanging my sailcloth up, going across the sea, I will achieve my dream.” The open China is inclusive and open-minded to recruit talents. The developing China has a bright future and unlimited opportunities for talents’ development. The 16th CIEP is expecting you!