BEIJING - The central government has launched an ambitious program to lure 2,000 talented young people from overseas in five years to boost the country's research and technological capabilities.
The Young Thousand Talents Program that will take effect in 2011 aims to lure an annual average of 400 highly skilled overseas Chinese or foreigners to work for the country's universities and research institutions, a statement posted on the central government's website said on Tuesday.
The program will help the country rapidly advance its scientific and technological capabilities and industries over the next decade, it said.
Applicants should come from the natural science and engineering fields, have a PhD from a prestigious overseas university and at least three years of experience working in research. They should be younger than 40, the statement said.
Program participants should also take full-time jobs in the Chinese universities or research institutes, the statement added.
They will enjoy a 500,000-yuan ($75,103) living subsidy and a research fund of between 1 million yuan and 3 million yuan, it said.
The program is the latest government effort to attract leading overseas scientists and researchers who are working at the world's best institutions or enterprises since it started the Thousand Talents Program in 2008. A total of 825 people have already signed up.
The National Outline for Medium- and Long-Term Talent Development (2010-2020) released in June said China plans to increase its talent pool from 114 million to 180 million by 2020, when it will spend 15 percent of its GDP on human resources.
