Recruitment policy lures experts to new area

Tianjin Binhai New Area, which plays a vital role in the development of Bohai Sea economic zone and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan area, is rolling out a slew of policies to attract talented professionals from the globe. Tian Fenghua / For China Daily

Bonuses, allowances are launched in municipality's oceanside zone to attract professionals.

Tianjin Binhai New Area's recruitment policy, which offers extra benefits to talented professionals who choose to work there, has achieved initial success.

Launched last year, the policy details 25 different areas where professionals at different levels and across a range of industries can receive significant financial backing and support.

Located on Tianjin's eastern coast, Binhai New Area plays an important role in the Bohai Sea economic zone and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan area.

According to the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Tianjin Binhai New Area, the number of professionals meeting the requirements of the new area has risen to 823,000 and now accounts for 55.4 percent of all employees.

The Binhai New Area government has attached great importance to recruiting global experts in all of its industries, offering them special funding and allowances.

According to its most recent talent policy, high-end professional teams wishing to undertake advanced technological projects in the area can receive up to 100 million yuan ($15.61 million) each in funding.

Nobel laureates, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering as well as top professionals from developed countries can each receive funds and allowances valued up to 12 million yuan.

Experts who have served as lifetime professors at world-class universities and scientific research institutions, and CTOs of global top 500 companies, are also eligible for the 6 million yuan funding.

For all professionals at any level who work in Binhai New Area, the government will provide rental and living allowances.

The annual funds provided for every full-time undergraduate in the area is 12,000 yuan, while workers with postgraduate degrees will each receive 24,000 yuan per year and workers with doctorate degrees will receive 36,000 yuan for three consecutive years.

Binhai New Area has also released a policy to assist enterprises registered in the new area to attract more senior executives.

Every recruited executive of those enterprises with annual revenue of more than 100 million yuan will receive rental and subsistence allowance of 150,000 yuan in total over three consecutive years.

The new area will also reward recruiters who recommend high-end professionals from both home and abroad.

High-end professionals are defined as those who are Nobel laureates, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, and members of the Thousand Talents Plan, the national recruitment program of global experts, according to officials.

Recruiters will receive bonuses of between 200,000 yuan and 2 million yuan when the professionals they recommend start work in Binhai New Area.

The new area launched a two-year science and technology personnel training program. All members of the program will receive scientific research funding of 400,000 yuan over the course of the two years, as well a monthly allowance of 3,000 yuan.

A special fund for young professionals has been set up for workers aged younger than 40 with innovation and development potential. Each young professional working in the new area will receive 200,000 yuan per year as well as a monthly living allowance.

Researchers at the Binhai New Area postdoctoral workstation and postdoctoral innovation base will each receive allowances of 150,000 yuan for two consecutive years. They are eligible to receive an additional 200,000 yuan if they sign a work contract of more than five years with companies registered in the new area.

In addition to financial support, Binhai New Area has built 44 new apartment buildings, providing 43,000 homes for nonlocal workers. It has also built three premium apartment buildings for 410 senior experts.

According to the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Tianjin Binhai New Area, housing for talents now covers 3.18 million square meters and has contributed to solving shortages in accommodation for nonlocal professionals, according to officials from the new area.

According to Yang Liang, deputy director of human resources development department of Tianjin Binhai New Area's Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the new area also held events for local companies to help recruit graduates from first-level universities in Beijing, Xi'an in Shaanxi province and Wuhan in Hubei province last year.

"It is important for the new area to retain these new professionals with its good environment, infrastructure and economic progress," Yang said. "Binhai New Area is ready to serve the increasing population in education, medicine and other sectors."

Binhai New Area plans to speed up the construction of 13 schools to cope with the growing number of professionals and their families.

The education committee of the Binhai New Area will start the construction of Dongyiqu school, Haigangcheng experimental middle school, Xinjiayuan No 2 primary school, Chenhui Beili kindergarten and Xinjiali No 2 kindergarten this year.

The committee said it will complete the construction of Tianjin Normal University Binhai affiliated school and other seven schools this year.

Binhai New Area will designate five schools as Smart Campus pilots and establish a video training and research system, a big data analysis platform to promote education information management and reform teaching methods using new technologies.

The new area has gathered many high-quality medical resources and launched a reform of its public hospitals. The construction of some major hospital projects has been accelerated to serve professionals and their family members.