5,000 vie for 40 reserve talent placements
Nearly 5,000 candidates have applied for 40 places in the 2022 Songjiang reserve talent program, according to the Songjiang District Organization Department.
Ninety percent are from key national universities, nearly 300 graduated from China's top universities including Tsinghua University, Peking University and Renmin University of China, and more than 140 are foreign-educated Chinese students.
Shi Yuting, a Tsinghua graduate from northwest China's Gansu Province, was a successful finalist out of the 3,300 candidates last year.
"Songjiang used to be a foreign place for me, but I had been impressed by its G60 High-tech Corridor blueprint long before I arrived here," said Shi, a bioscience graduate who enrolled into last year's program.
"Its biomedicine industry cluster has a strong appeal to me."
Wu Di, a Peking University student from neighboring Jiangsu Province, became familiar with the program from the school's career center website.
"I once visited my former classmate in Songjiang University Town and was impressed by it," said Wu. "The district's G60 High-tech Corridor vision, its Songjiang New City and Songjiang traffic hub construction plans likely promise me a bright future in Songjiang. So I am eager to work here."
Wang Quan, a Shanghai Jiao Tong University post-graduate student from central Henan Province, applied for the 2022 program after he attended a packed promotion session.
"A fellow student of mine applied for the program last year. He is now working at the Songjiang Human Resources and Social Security Bureau," said Wang.
"He told me the reserve talent enjoy both talent apartment rental subsidies and house purchasing subsidies."
Shi, who has been settling into life in Songjiang for one year, is satisfied with her new life.
She lives in a G60 talent apartment.
"The talent apartment is well equipped with all the necessary furniture and home appliances. I also enjoy a 2,500-yuan (US$373.50) talent apartment rental subsidy," she said.
"I talk with my new friends who live in the same building and belong to the same reserve talent program whenever I feel lonely, and the mutual encouragement between us somehow relieves my homesickness."
She is now working at the district government office and has had the opportunity to witness the drafting of many strategic policies including the Yangtze River Delta Regional Integrated Development Outline and the Yangtze River Delta G60 High-tech Corridor Construction Blueprint.
The reserve talent program dates back to 2004, when Songjiang started to recruit talent from the three top universities in Beijing. The recruitment took place every four years at first. From 2016, the district expanded the university list and reduced the recruitment interval to every two years.
In 2018, Cheng Xiangmin, Party secretary of Songjiang District, personally led a delegation to launch a promotion campaign at Tsinghua University.