Increasingly, Shanghai luring Chinese talent who finished studies overseas

More Chinese returning from overseas after completing studies have applied for permanent residency in Shanghai this year to start their careers.

"We believe that Shanghai will be a magnet for youth from around the world, not just Chinese furthering their education abroad," said Zhu Yinghua, head of international collaboration and exchange department at the Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, during an online broadcast held by the bureau earlier this month.

In the past decade, more than 180,000 Chinese youth from regions outside Shanghai who went abroad to study chose to work or start businesses in Shanghai after graduation, according to statistics from the bureau.

The average age of overseas returnees is 27, and the entrepreneurs among them have set up more than 5,300 startups with total registered capital exceeding $800 million, according to the bureau.

Zhao Yongfeng, director of the bureau, said that Shanghai-home to regional headquarters of many multinational companies, international research and development centers, influential institutions of higher education and public health resources-is geared to press ahead with its goal of becoming an international economic, financial, trade and shipping center and a hub for scientific innovation as well as an excellent global city. This requires a reservoir of talent that has global vision and inclusiveness and is fluent in foreign languages and international practices and rules.

"In return, the large number of opportunities and large platforms that are comparable to top global cities in the world are what Shanghai can offer to the overseas returnees to realize their ambitions and contribute to the country's development and that of humankind as a whole," he said.

Rich Carruthers, deputy director of careers service at Imperial College London, said that Shanghai offers an active business environment, efficient government service, advanced infrastructure, enriched human resources and first-class academic and research institutions.

"It also has diversified facilities for museums, leisure, art and sports. I think all these make Shanghai a competitive destination for talent from around the globe," he said.

Xiong Ni, a 23-year-old native of Yunnan province who is currently a graduate student majoring in statistics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said she would consider Shanghai or Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, as the first stop for career development.

"We won't regard returning to China to work as a second choice after securing a job overseas these days. China has so many opportunities to offer to its young generation," she said.

As a guest speaker during the live broadcast, Zhang Wenhong, leader of the Shanghai team of experts in the clinical treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia cases, said he had countless opportunities not to further his career in Shanghai but became a Shanghainese eventually.

"The atmosphere in Shanghai is pleasant and fair. Every person with a specific skill feels comfortable here," said Zhang, who is also director of the department of infectious disease at Shanghai Huashan Hospital. He went to a medical school in Shanghai and later spent years overseas for further study and research before choosing to settle down in the city.