This notice, issued by the PRC Ministry of Science and Technology in early 2019, describes China’s newly reorganized “High-End Foreign Expert Recruitment Plan.” Like other Chinese talent programs, the new plan aims to entice foreign scientists, professors, and entrepreneurs to work in China to share their knowledge. The plan does not allow foreigners to apply directly; instead, Chinese companies, universities, and research institutes must apply for the plan on behalf of their prospective foreign employees.
Source: MOST website. This notice is dated January 25, 2019, but was not posted to the MOST website until January 30, 2019.
The Chinese source text is available online at: http://www.most.gov.cn/mostinfo/xinxifenlei/fgzc/gfxwj/gfxwj2019/201901/t20190130_144944.htm
The footnote is an addition by the translator; the Chinese source document contains no footnotes.
Translator: Etcetera Language Group, Inc.
Editor: Ben Murphy, CSET Translation Lead
To the science and technology departments (commissions and bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and sub-provincial cities; the Science and Technology Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; the relevant departments of the State Council and all institutions directly under the State Council; higher education institutions affiliated with ministries and commissions; and the centralized foreign expert work management departments of relevant group companies:
In order to carry out the spirit of the 19th Party Congress and the Second and Third Plenums of the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in an all-round manner, and deeply implement the important statements of General Secretary Xi Jinping on science and technology innovation and overseas talent recruitment work, and in accordance with the overall requirements of the institutional reform of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the provisions of the “Notice of the Ministry of Finance on Preparation of the 2019-2021 Expenditure Plans and 2019 Departmental Budgets of Central Departments” ([2018] No. 96), notice is hereby given as follows regarding application and reporting (申报) work for the 2019 High-Level Foreign Expert Recruitment Plan.
- Application Principles
(I) Serve the needs of the nation’s major strategies. Deeply implement the strategy for reinvigorating China through science and education (科教兴国战略), the strategy to make China into a talent superpower (人才强国战略), and the innovation-driven development strategy (创新驱动发展战略), keep the aim on the world’s cutting edge in science and technology, the major economic battlefields and major national needs, and do overall planning for projects, talents and bases, for enterprises, institutes and higher education institutions, and for Chinese S&T innovation and Chinese-foreign collaborative innovation. Support participation by foreign scientists in national S&T plans; make full use of the important roles high-end foreign experts play in fostering the development of strategic emerging industries, promoting the improved quality/efficiency and upgrading of the economy, molding lead-the-way development (引领型发展), encouraging international cooperation in innovation, and helping to build world-class universities and world-class curricula (“双一流”建设) at institutions of higher learning; and thereby provide powerful intellectual support for the nation’s innovation and development.
(II) Focus on the key points of “high-level, elite, cutting-edge, in-demand” (“高精尖缺”) in talent recruitment. Continue to take being talent-driven as an essential requirement, focus effort on recruiting scientists who possess capacity for significant original innovation, leading S&T talents who possess capacity for driving significant technological innovation, businesspeople who possess global vision and pioneering capability, and experts in the humanities and social sciences who meet the nation’s strategic development needs, and focus effort on recruiting young innovative talent, innovation teams, and all kinds of urgently needed talent, so that the scale, level and structure of talent recruitment meet the needs of China’s economic construction and social development.
(III) Maintain a project results and performance orientation. Establish project evaluation systems oriented towards innovation quality, contribution and performance, and correctly assess the scientific value, technological value, economic value, social value, and cultural value of foreign expert projects. Push implementation of performance evaluations for foreign expert projects, establish evaluation systems combining qualitative and quantitative indicators, and make evaluation results an important basis for continuing project funding support.
- Project Integration
In accordance with the reform requirements of the Central Government’s foreign talent recruitment planning work, optimize project structure, increase the overall effectiveness of foreign expert projects, and make the following adjustments in 2019 foreign expert recruitment projects.
(I) Integrate relevant foreign expert recruitment projects organized and implemented by the Department of Economic and Technological Experts and the Department of Educational, Scientific, Cultural and Health Experts under the former State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs,1 and establish a “High-End Foreign Expert Recruitment Plan.” The former “Chief Scientist Project,” “High-End Foreign Expert Project,” “National Major Science and Technology Special Talent Recruitment Plan,” “‘Belt and Road’ Educational, Scientific, Cultural, and Health Expertise Introduction Project,” “‘Higher Education Institutional and Curriculum Innovation Expertise Introduction Plan’ Training Project,” “Young Foreign Talent Recruitment Project,” “International Academic Masters Campus Tour Project,” “Renowned Overseas Professors Project,” and “Educational, Scientific, Cultural, and Health Key Expertise Introduction Project” shall all be integrated into the “High-End Foreign Expert Recruitment Plan” for organization and implementation.
(II) While they are still in effect, the “National Talent and Intellect Recruitment Demonstration Bases” (including “National Demonstration Bases for Introducing Foreign Intellectual Achievements”) must complete reporting of annual work summaries and work plans for the next year in accordance with requirements, and key support will be given to the current-year introduction plans filed. Where Bases for Introducing Intellectual Achievements (引智基地) carry out expert recruitment, technical training, and other tasks for the demonstration and extension of introduced intellectual achievements, they can apply for intellectual achievement extension funding support (separate application filing is required for intellectual achievement extension funding, with designated funds for specific purposes). Separate notice will be given on 2019 new application work for “National Talent and Intellect Recruitment Demonstration Bases” (“国家引才引智示范基地”).
(III) Projects already established under the “Higher Education Internationalization Demonstration School Promotion Plan (Promotion Plan),” “Higher Education Curricula Innovation and Improvement Program (111 Program)”, “111 Program 2.0”, etc., and still in their support periods, shall continue to be supported on a rolling basis, and they must file annual project work summaries and work plans for the next year, as well as propose funding requirements. Separate notice will be given on 2019 new application work for the “Promotion Plan” and “111 Program.”
- Project Categories
2019 “High-End Foreign Expert Recruitment Plan” applications shall be in accordance with the following four areas:
(I) Strategic S&T development type. Priority support should be centered on the nation’s major S&T innovation requirements, and foreign experts engaged in cutting-edge basic research, S&T industry innovation, and engineering S&T innovation. Energetically introduce top talents (and their groups) who have research interests in global cutting-edge S&T fields, are engaged in exploratory research or original research, are capable of leading the nation’s major S&T research tasks or construction projects, or have the potential to make major breakthroughs in critical core technologies and “stranglehold” (“卡脖子”) fields. This type of projects will be given priority support.
(II) Industrial technology innovation type. With the focus centered on industrial transformation and upgrading, innovation-based development, and implementation of the “go global” (“走出去”) strategy, energetically recruit all kinds of technology innovation talent, push for new breakthroughs in key technologies, production techniques, and product design, and generate significant economic and social benefits. Support recruitment of businesspeople who possess multinational management and cross-cultural administrative capabilities, and foreign experts in strategic planning.
(III) Social and ecological construction type. With serving the modernization of China’s social governance capabilities and the building of ecological civilization as the main objectives, support recruitment in various social development fields of foreign experts who have high academic attainment and extensive practical experience, and who will continuously promote the healthy development in China of such fields as healthcare, social security, finance and insurance, laws and regulations, spoken and written languages, culture and the arts, and modern service industries. Focus effort on recruiting foreign experts who can promote green development, solve prominent environmental problems, promote ecosystem protection, and play important roles in the implementation of the regional coordination and sustainable development strategies.
(IV) Agriculture and rural revitalization type. While serving the rural revitalization strategy and taking promoting the priority development of agricultural S&T innovation as the main direction, energetically recruit foreign agricultural experts who conform to the national agricultural and rural development plans and strategic layout for poverty alleviation, and are able to bring in improved foreign breeds, planting and animal husbandry technology, safe production and inspection technology, and advanced production and management methods, thereby promoting the development of high-yield, high-quality, highly efficient, ecological, and safe modern agriculture.
- Application Criteria
(I) Application filing entities: corporations, scientific research institutes, higher education institutions, and other legal persons and entities lawfully established within the borders of China.
(II) Selected foreign experts or groups must meet one of the following criteria:
- Expert scholars serving in or having positions or job titles equivalent to an assistant professor or higher at renowned foreign institutions of higher education and scientific research institutes;
- Professional and technical talent and management talent serving in senior positions at renowned foreign corporations and institutions;
- Entrepreneurial talents who have proprietary intellectual property or who control core technology;
- Other high-level foreign experts and young talents urgently needed by the nation.
(III) Encourage foreign experts to come to China for long-term, in-depth collaboration.
- Application and Reporting Requirements
(I) All departments and units must recognize the importance and necessity of project integration, and conscientiously implement related requirements. All relevant management departments must attach great importance to, and guide project units in, the proper performance of application and reporting work. All project units must organize thorough demonstration of experts, factually fill in and report information, and ensure the accuracy of application filing contents, and shall not make misrepresentations or false reports.
(II) Taking the content of work (research interests or technical goals) as basic item for application filings, where multiple foreign experts are to be hired for the same work content, the application shall be made as a single project.
(III) In applying for salaries of experts, all project units shall provide scanned copies, with the foreign experts’ signatures on them, of salary contracts, agreements, or other relevant documents. Project units must retain the original documents in preparation for examination.
(IV) All project units must carefully comb through their 2018 projects circumstances, factually fill in relevant data and report project execution results, and conduct performance evaluations. All centralized management departments must carry out comprehensive summarization of 2018 foreign expert project work in the areas they are responsible for, analyze the overall execution circumstances, report typical results and case studies of experts, and offer opinions and suggestions.
(V) All project units must carry out foreign expert recruitment work in accordance with laws and regulations, strictly comply with laws and regulations regarding intellectual property, competition prohibitions, and hiring and compensation, conform to international norms and accepted practices, and promote mutually beneficial, win-win cooperation.
(VI) All project units must heighten the security awareness (安全意识) of talents, perform work in a proactive and dependable manner, establish risk prevention, early warning, and emergency response management systems, and promptly report major issues that arise in foreign expert work and handle them properly.
(VII) Project application and reporting shall be done online in a unified fashion using the Foreign Expert Project Management Information System (website: http://ceps.safea.gov.cn). The open period of the system is: February 1, 2019 to March 15, 2019. All project units are requested to complete online filings on time, and all relevant management departments should complete online reviews of all projects, and submit project applications and summaries, by the deadline.
Contact: Foreign Expert Service Department
First Expert Division: Zhang Yingzhe (张英哲) (010) 68948899-50358
Second Expert Division: Huang Furong (黄芙蓉) (010) 68948899-50511
China International Talent Exchange Center
Zhang Kaiyang (张开阳) (010) 68948899-50341
Office of the Ministry of Science and Technology
January 25, 2019
(This document shall be actively publicized)