New research program to help Shanghai attract and retain talent

Tishman Speyer, the world-known real estate company, and the Shanghai Academy of Development and Reform jointly launched a research program that will help Shanghai attract and retain international talent for future development.

The program will be presented to Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong as an extension of the 30th anniversary of  International Business Leaders’ Advisory Council (IBLAC). The council was started 29 years ago for international business leaders to meet every year and provide advice on Shanghai’s development.

Zhao Yihuai, Party chief of the Shanghai Academy of Development and Reform, said talent, especially high-end international talent, is crucial for Shanghai to become a global center for scientific and technological innovation and a city of global excellence.

“We are now seeking development driven by innovation and innovation is actually driven by talent,” said Zhao. 

“The topic of the program does address Shanghai’s need as it faces the problem of imbalanced talent structure and is in short of enough international and innovative talent.”

Rob Speyer, president and CEO of Tishman Speyer, said a core part of Shanghai’s vision of becoming a city of global excellence was to build an attractive environment for Shanghai residents and for people from across the world to live, work and study.

The program emerged from the 29th IBLAC two months ago when Speyer proposed that a Sino-foreign research program should be launched to address the topic of “attracting and retaining international talent in Shanghai” to help the city to achieve its vision.

The proposal led to the cooperation between Tishman Speyer’s Future Cities Council and the Shanghai Academy of Development and Reform.

The former party, founded by Speyer, has leading experts and urbanists from around the world working on projects covering topics such as public policy and livability for major metropolitan cities. The Shanghai Academy of Development and Reform is a leading think tank that looks at Shanghai’s policy of city development. It has internationally distinguished scholars on its staff.

They have formed three teams consisting of global and local city development experts from prestigious institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Tsinghua and Fudan Universities. They will focus on three subject areas — economics; sociology; and design, planning and big data.