'Scattered rules' hinder talent quest

Lagging legislation and poor implementation of scattered immigration policies has slowed China's efforts to recruit foreign talent, experts say.

There is no dedicated immigration law in China even though the government in recent years has made a priority of using talent from abroad to facilitate its social and economic development.

The central government launched the One Thousand Foreign Experts Project to recruit top-notch foreign experts in 2008, aiming to invite 500 to 1,000 high-end, non-Chinese foreign specialists from other countries to work in China in 10 years.

Overseas professionals recruited by the programs are granted financial subsidies, favorable policies in terms of visa applications, tax deductions, residences, medical care and insurance policies.

However, the program has benefited only a small number of foreigners. According to the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, 196 non-Chinese professionals from 29 countries had been recruited through the program by May.

China announced last year that it would issue special visas to foreign experts whose skills are urgently needed. However, the governmental departments involved including SAFEA, are still working on formulating detailed regulations to carry out the policy.

At a symposium on talent exchange and skilled migration policies held in Beijing in June, Xu Xiaohong, deputy division director of the Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration under the Ministry of Public Security, expressed her confusion about who is eligible to apply for the special visa.

There is no clear guidance on the definition and classification of who is eligible to apply for the special visa, which in effect means issuing them is impossible, she said.

Liu Guofu, a professor of immigration at Beijing Institute of Technology's Law School, said the lack of a dedicated immigration law and implementation of existing scattered migration policies have hindered China's global search for talent.

"China should abolish unnecessary bans and limits on luring international talent. It should speed up lawmaking to make it easier for foreigners to apply for visas and to work and live in China," he said.

The market should play a dominant role in selecting and recruiting foreign talent and the government should create predictable policy to facilitate the employer-led selection system, he said.

Sam Blay, a law professor from the University of Technology in Australia, said China is transforming from a source country to a designation country for international talent.

"China may be a latecomer, but it can still set a trend in terms of talent searching, recruiting and sharing," he said. "China has a close relationship with developing countries, which may provide more immigrants in the future."

Contact the writers at hedan@chinadaily.com.cn and suzhou@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/27/2014 page14)