SHANGHAI: The city will step up efforts to attract quality professionals from abroad as part of a new human resource plan for this year.

"Shanghai is striving to shape itself into a world-class cosmopolis, and for this human resources are crucial ," said Director of the Shanghai Municipal Personnel Bureau Ding Xuexiang.

He said top-notch overseas professionals have already shown how useful they have been in modernizing Shanghai and making it an international city, which would continue to absorb more and more personnel.

Under the latest local government plan, there will be 50 key infrastructure projects and developments in pillar industries.

The bureau is currently working with other organizations to pin down the exact number of professionals needed to complete the 50 projects.

Wang Anshun, deputy Party secretary of Shanghai, said they are planning to launch a global recruitment campaign for suitable overseas staff.

The bureau has so far set up a liaison office in Britain, Germany and Australia. They are particularly interested in overseas Chinese who would like to start their own businesses in the city.

"We are now building up liaison offices in the United States , Canada, Russia and other developed countries and regions for the same purpose," said Ding.

In latest statistics from the Shanghai Municipal Personnel Bureau, 4,805 first-class overseas professionals and 1,287 quality Hong Kong professionals were drawn to work in the city in 2004.

The Shanghai Administrative Centre for Employment of Foreigners under the Shanghai Municipal Labour and Social Security Bureau said that in 2004, the numbers of overseas newcomers to the city reached 15,573, a more than 40 per cent increase over 2003.

Centre Director Sun Hande said the increase suggested Shanghai has become a bigger attraction for foreigners, perhaps because it could offer more career opportunities.

In the meantime, officials have revealed that the local government will improve management and service systems for overseas Chinese and foreign experts who have been working in the city, whether they are top-level staff or just ordinary workers.

Municipal bureaux including public security, labour and social security and taxation will offer them 24-hour services.

While absorbing more professionals with global vision, the local government will also nurture more home-grown staff with international perspectives by sending them abroad.

Ding said the bureau was in talks with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania on training officials.

The municipality is also in talks with the Singaporean and German governments and world-leading companies like GE, Siemens, PWC concerning human resources training programmes.