Pudong woos talent with returning students from top UK universities
The event aims to attract overseas Chinese students and support local development in Pudong after they finish their study.
Over 30 Chinese students from top UK universities have started a three-day trip to Pudong in the new area's latest efforts to woo global talent.
They are from University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, University College London and King's College London.
The event, from June 26-28, provided them with a platform to talk with officials and learn more about Pudong's development blueprint and latest talent policies.
It also offered guided tours to domestic business tycoons like Anti Group, operator of Alipay, and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), developer of the C919, as well as Pudong's innovation facilities like Zhangjiang AIsland and Zhangjiang Robot Valley.
Students visit Ant Group.
"My personal research interest is in synthetic biology. Shanghai is one of the top three regions in China where the research and development of biotechnology is relatively concentrated. So, Shanghai will be my first choice after finishing my study," said Luo Shulei, a PhD student in life sciences at Imperial College London.
Xiao Jiahua, who's studying aerospace engineering at Cambridge, is most looking forward to visiting COMAC. "It is directly related to my major, and the visit will give us an in-depth understanding and broaden our horizons for job hunting or starting our own career," he said.
During the event, cooperation was formed between Chinese student unions of the four UK universities and the Pudong Talent Development Corporation, encouraging more Chinese graduates to return home and get rooted in Pudong's development.
During its efforts to become a magnet for global talent, Pudong has officially launched the "Pudong International Talent Station" program in February, offering seven-day free accommodation to high-end overseas talent and returned students from reputable universities, as well as one to three-months of free office space to startups.
Li Tingting, who's in charge of the program, said: "We have served quite a bit of talent so far, with international students accounting for roughly nearly 70%, as well as ten startup teams, mostly focusing on biomedical and artificial intelligence teams."
