Shanghai an ideal city for global scientists

Shanghai is voted as China's most attractive city for global scientists. [Photo/IC]

Shanghai's efforts to bolster talent development in recent years have made it an ideal city for scientists worldwide.

A survey by Springer Nature publishing company and the Shanghai Institute of Science showed that Shanghai is the most attractive city in China among 654 surveyed scientists from around the world.

The city has implemented a series of reform measures to build itself into a hub for scientific and technological innovation and many measures have proved helpful over the past five years.

"Ten years ago, the patent transfer fee of a new antimicrobial was equal to decade's worth of scientific personnel salaries, but the income to individuals was little." said Ye Yang, deputy director of the Shanghai Institute of Medicine of Chinese Academy of Sciences, "things are totally different now."

In order to encourage scientific workers to improve their research capabilities, Shanghai began offering more benefits.

The income from the transformation of results of technological innovation is distributed according to a ratio of 5:2:3 to individuals, team and research institute, respectively.

In addition, Shanghai is exploring innovative systems for talent cultivation to support outstanding personnel and has given researchers greater control over the funds for science projects.

Regarding young talents and startups, key resources for future development, the city is always generous in offering investments and opportunities.

Technical services company Titan has achieved annual sales of 1 billion yuan ($144.73 million) since its inception, with 200,000 yuan from a foundation for entrepreneurial university students in Shanghai.

In Titan Founder Xie Yingbo's view, Shanghai has a large market for technical services as the city is gathering more and more research centers and innovation institutes. "We will strive to develop better products in offering one-stop solutions to scientific institutes."

Arnout Jacobs, general manager of the Greater China region of Springer Nature who has worked in Shanghai for three years, said there are many reasons why the city has become a magnet for talents, including its emphasis on education, inclusive culture and administrative efficiency.

Shanghai maintains openness to overseas talents. It has set up policies that are in line with international standards and taken the lead in exploring market-based standards and convenient measures for permanent residence.

The city has handled a total of 1.14 million certificates for entry and exit documents, and has accepted 215,000 foreign workers, ranking first in the country.

The office building of technical services company Titan, which started business with the support of the Shanghai foundation. [Photo/titansci.com]

Shanghai Zhangjiang High Tech Park has many research facilities. [Photo by Wu Jun/for China Daily]