Support service aims to attract top-quality talent

Zhongshan, a fast-growing city in South China's Guangdong province, launched a project on Monday to attract top industrial leaders and innovative talent.

Dubbed an international talent pool, the project will build a talent-attraction headquarters in Cuiheng New Area. It will cover all the service sites in the city, and 24 towns and communities, to build a comprehensive network that serves professionals, experts and entrepreneurs, according to the city plan.

When its service hub at the headquarters is opened, which is expected in the near future, all the professionals, experts and entrepreneurs will be able to enjoy one-stop services. This includes policy consultation, talent identification and evaluation, awards and subsidy distribution, demands matching and projects matching.

"We will continue to implement the strategy of fueling the city with talent this year and stipulate more active, open and more effective talent policies," said Ouyang Guiyou, director of the organizing department of Zhongshan at the launch ceremony.

He said the city is eager to attract and nurture talent that could be technology trend setters, experts in overall planning and coordination and well-versed at innovation.

The city government also awarded five groups and 10 individuals, which have made great contributions to local development, a total of 120 million yuan ($18.3 million).

The launch ceremony has been one of the 30 sideline events of the ongoing 2021 Trade and Investment Fair and Top Talent Networking. These are the city's most important events to attract funds and talent annually, and have been held for 32 years.

Bio-medicine co-op

In a forum focusing on cooperation between Hong Kong and Zhongshan in the sector of healthcare and medicine on Sunday, government officials and company representatives shared experiences and discussed cooperation models and opportunities.

Lai Zehua, Party secretary of Zhongshan, said the medicine industry is in its best development period. As a major city of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Zhongshan has been given priority to push biomedicine technological innovation in an official outline of the development plan for the Bay Area.

He said the two cities are expected to generate an intense "chemical reaction" when cooperation in the medicine sector deepens, because their advantages are complementary.

The sector in Zhongshan has developed an important industrial base, complete industrial chain and excellent innovation environment since the early 1980s, said Mayor Wei Weihan.

Over the past few decades, a group of Hong Kong-funded companies, including United Laboratories and Euro Asia Packaging, have made investments in Zhongshan. Meanwhile, a couple of companies in Zhongshan, including Zhongzhi Pharmaceutical Holdings and Akeso Inc, chose to go public in Hong Kong.