Pudong woos global talent with free accommodation, startup space

Finding a place to live in before their new job starts can be tough for new grads, especially those who aspire to find their feet in Shanghai but worry about the high living costs. Not a problem in the Pudong New Area though.

As one of the newly released incentives to woo global talent, Pudong has launched the "Pudong International Talent Station" program that offers seven-day free accommodation to high-end overseas talent and returned students from reputable universities, as well as one to three-month free office space to startups.

Liang Dingge and her boyfriend Yu Mulin, both PhD graduates from the National Institute of Research in Digital Science and Technology in France, are two of the first beneficiaries. She's going to work at the Shanghai Zhangjiang Academy of Mathematics.

"We learnt from our friends about the program and applied for free accommodation via the program's WeChat account. It just cost us less than a week to finish the application," Liang said.

As they arrived by train from their hometown in Henan Province last Sunday, they were picked up at the railway station by staff from the talent station and driven to their accommodation in Zhangjiang.

"It really surprised me. I felt at home," Liang said, adding that the apartment they were arranged to live in was quite well equipped and fully furnished. "What they did for us reduced my uncertainty and cleared my worries about working and living in Shanghai. I expect my future will be here in Pudong."

To date, nearly 1,000 talented aspirants have registered with the program's WeChat program and tens of them have applied for free accommodation. The service will expand to more talent in the future so as to boost Pudong's talent pool.

Basically, Pudong aims to expand its talent pool to 2 million people by 2025, and become a leading talent development hub with global attractiveness, competitiveness and influence by 2050.