Hengqin to lure even more expat Chinese experts

A 1-billion-yuan ($153 million) headquarters is soon to be built exclusively for Thousand Talents Plan experts. With the prospect, Hengqin New Area in Zhuhai is enticing and anticipating more startups and operating projects.

Proposed is a 16,000-sq-m edifice east of the Hengqin Bridge with floorage of more than 50,000 sq m. It is to serve high-caliber talents including prestigious overseas returnees who are ready to succeed in high-end fields with support from the local government.

The announcement was made at the International Summit of the Cloud Computing Industry Alliance in Inno Valley HQ, or the Macao-Hengqin Youth Entrepreneurship Valley, on Sept 16. Intellectuals were informed that they would be provided with centralized business offices and integrated services at the new facility.

Benefit areas are electronics and information, new materials, aviation and aerospace, biological products and new drugs, and new-energy and energy-saving technologies, among others.

Construction is to begin within the year. Bidding has opened even as approval is pending, according to a project head. 

Hengqin Bridge [Photo courtesy nanfangplus]

A government official said that this year has seen a spurt in the number of high-end talents converging in Hengqin. Forty-six Thousand Talents Plan members were welcomed in 2017, and the area now houses nearly nine out of ten of the city's Chinese foreign experts.

He commented that by adding service levels to its geographic and policy advantages Hengqin can attract even more talents. For example, members of The Thousand Talents Plan or academicians of the Chinese Academies of Sciences and Engineering have had financial support enhanced under preferential treatment.

The Implementation Opinions on Prioritizing Talents Development in the Hengqin Free Trade Zone introduced earlier this year were updated. Now, startups and innovation teams can apply for subsidies of 2 million yuan ($300,300) or 5 million yuan ($750,800) upon registration of their companies. Previous incentives could only be expected one year after registration and six-months in the area.

In addition, Thousand Talents Plan experts can receive a business license in only a day via an earmarked "expert green channel."

With the backing of Hengqin Financial Investment, some 10 Thousand Talents Plan projects have had monetary issues taken care of.