South part of the Changchun National High-tech Industrial Development Area. Photos Provided to China Daily

Inaugural ceremony of the Changchun Talent Zone, in the Changchun National High-tech Industrial Development Area, on Sept 15.

Editor's note: The Changchun National High-tech Industrial Development Area held its opening ceremony for the Changchun Talent Zone, on Sept 15, generating a lot of interest.

In response, Yang Ziming, a member of Changchun's CPC committee and head of Changchun Organization Department, has taken time out to give China Daily his thoughts on the Talent Zone and its significance:

Q: We attended the opening ceremony on Sept 15, and wondered what the expectations are for the Talent Zone, since the idea is so new?

A: It's true that the Talent Zone is a novel concept, and unknown to many. And it has four special characteristics - special policies and a special platform to attract special talent to a special place - because we want to transform our method of development and improve our innovation.

While Changchun has a sound technological base, it still needs to make use of these advantages. And, the Talent Zone is an exploratory project for finding ways to attract more talented people. We want to bring about good results so that leading people in the field of technology will bring innovation teams to the Talent Zone and fuel the development of an entire industry.

Q: As far as I can tell, Changchun has already made some headway in attracting and developing talented people, so why the Talent Zone?

A: For the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), Changchun has had some goals in structural adjustment, expansion, and acceleration, all of which require talent. In other words, we have reached a key stage in talent development.

In recent years, we made an effort, as part of this talent development, to stop the brain drain and, by 2004, the flow of talent turned positive, with an influx, and that has increased yearly. However, less than 15 percent of our scientific findings led to greater productivity.

Changchun ranks 38th out of 294 large and medium-sized cities in China in overall competitiveness, but our talent potential has yet to result in an economic advantage.

After some examination, Party policies on attracting talent shifted to the macro and strategic level, but without much integration. We need to enforce these policies and let the market play a dominant role in talent allocation.

To deal with such problems, in the latter half of last year we put the Talent Zone high on the agenda and, building on the momentum of past talent projects, will add innovation to new policies. The guiding principle is to find the best combination of policies and market allocation, so the macro-control efforts of the Communist Party and hidden hand of the market will produce the best results.

Q: Changchun is at somewhat of a disadvantage in terms of geography, climate and industry. So, what's being done to address these disadvantages by means of the Talent Zone?

A: I admit that Changchun is in an inferior position compared to southern cities in geography, environment, industry, and the economy and the question of how to develop the Talent Zone's reputation is weighing pretty heavily on everyone's mind.

We've made a serious effort and will put 100 million yuan ($15.7 million) every year, for five consecutive years, into a special fund, with 100,000 square meters of buildings and 500 apartments planned to help talented people start their own business and settle here.

More important, there have been innovative policies that will usher in an innovative mechanism. To be more specific, policies will be geared to give the largest share of profits possible to people who hold property rights and apply them to productivity. These policies will provide an effective stimulus.

The municipal government has come up with 12 favorable policies that constitute a breakthrough. For example, any of Changchun's institutions and colleges with any scientific findings that lead to economic gains in the Talent Zone, will be able to claim at least 30 percent of the profits to reward the researcher or person responsible.

Also, intellectual property rights can be used as capital to cover as much as 70 percent of registered capital. These two policies reflect the market control over intellectual property rights.

Another policy states that anyone who is considered one of the "Thousand talents" can receive a lump sum of one million yuan from a national fund and two million from municipal and district funds. The person is treated as a municipal expert and can enjoy certain allowances, and benefits in health check-ups and vacations.

Changchun gives plenty of support to talented people, including helping with their children's schooling and spouse's work.

Q: Changchun has many scientific institutions, enterprises, and development zones, so why has it put the Talent Zone in a High-tech Area?

A: The main reason is that the High-tech Area already has a large number of talented people and good industrial output.

The area has 92 high-tech enterprises, which account for 40 percent of the province's total, and 70 percent of the city's total.

In 2010, industrial output went above 200 billion yuan to 237.4 billion yuan, contributing 41.3 percent to the city's total output and 17.9 percent to the provincial total.

From a managerial perspective, the High-tech Area has a flexible mechanism and many other advantages as well. The number of enterprise technology centers that it has, at the provincial level or above, and the number of postdoctoral research stations account for more than half of the province's total.

It also leads the country in genetic engineering and cell engineering, and is well placed in equipment manufacturing, cultural innovation and automobile manufacturing.

It has attracted more than 1,000 talented people from the US, UK and 21 other countries, and has more than 100 finance institutions and around 20 fund companies.

The decision to put the Talent Zone in the High-tech Area was based on the idea of making the best of its advantages and making this region a magnet for talented people from Jilin province and all of Northeast China.

Q: In what way will Talent Zone operations meet international standards?

A: Well, to tell you the truth, there is no precedent for the Talent Zone and we have to approach this project with open minds.

One thing is certain: the Talent Zone needs a good starting point, especially its overall framework and operational design, which should meet international standards.

Although the zone can't operate in a totally foreign way, as, say, the Beijing Institute of Life Sciences does. We will draw our ideas and mechanism from advanced countries and try to establish four systems in enterprise incubation, science evaluation, financial support, and policy support.

In the enterprise incubation system, researchers at science institutions and colleges will be encouraged to take part in production.

In the financial support system, special channels will be set up to lower the threshold for small enterprises going public. Local venture capital firms will get government support, while we will try to attract foreign venture capital firms to enlarge the scope of our venture capital. In the science evaluation system, special attention will be given to developing independent science evaluations, setting up a professional evaluation team, and establishing a comprehensive evaluation system.

Q: The opening ceremony marked the beginning of the Talent Zone project. So, what are the next steps?

A: The ceremony was the starting point to a journey that will take a great deal of effort. The zone is a systematic effort, one that touches on many aspects, demands high standards, and brings difficult tasks.

The first task is to establish a committee, which will later devise an operational mechanism to coordinate use of resources.

The idea is to establish a framework for close cooperation, resource sharing, and the combined efforts of various municipal departments.

The second task is to flesh out policies and establish a responsibility system, where the various departments are held accountable for their work.

There will be explanations of the 12 policies provided to related parties so they can be properly enforced. Also, we'll need detailed enforcement measures for various departments.

The third task is promotion -- that is, expanding the Talent Zone's influence.

The fourth task is to extend the project in other areas. The Talent Zone experience and results will be carefully studied so that, the next year, similar projects can be conducted in the High Speed Railway Zone, for example, and the Corn Zone. This project will be extended to become a significant driving force for Changchun's development.

(China Daily 10/25/2011 page10)