Xiamen, an open city, gathers talents from all over the world

Nowadays， the total talent resources in Xiamen reach 1.7 million， and there are over 60，000 international talents. It has been selected as one of the "Best Talent Attraction Cities in China" for four consecutive years. These foreign talents come from all over the world， bringing their own cultural backgrounds， professional skills and innovative thinking， and are injecting new vitality into the development of Xiamen.

Pierre from Lyon, France, once interned at a Chinese company during his postgraduate studies. Drawn by Xiamen’s culture and lifestyle, he chose to settle down and start a business there. Today, the outdoor equipment company he co-founded with his wife has gained a strong reputation in international markets, with products exported to Europe and the US.

Pierre’s ability to stay in Xiamen was made possible by the city’s evaluation mechanism for foreign professionals’ technical and vocational skills. He obtained an intermediate-level professional qualification, which granted him a two-year work permit, facilitating his career development in Xiamen.

In 2023, Xiamen City was the first in Fujian Province to implement a professional and technical evaluation system for foreign talents. It appropriately relaxed the restrictions on education and experience, focusing on assessing the actual technical and skill levels in work. Those recognized as having a mid-level professional and technical level can obtain a two-year visa for coming to China, while those with a junior level or possessing the skills for working in Xiamen can obtain a one-year visa. This policy helps enterprises attract urgently needed technical and skilled young foreign talents, and 48 foreign talents have passed the recognition and joined the enterprises.

In the same year, Xiamen City was the first in Fujian Province to implement the reform of the international qualification recognition list system. It directly recognized 75 international qualifications and allowed 50 engineering-related qualifications to be comparable to professional titles for recognition, covering engineering technology fields such as big data, mechanical equipment, and biomedicine, and serving as a basis for foreign talent applying for work permits in China. By the end of July this year, 1,608 certificates had been issued.

Nowadays, the channels for attracting talents in Xiamen are becoming wider and wider. Through institutional innovation, barriers for foreign talents to develop in Xiamen are broken, and more flexible and open policies are provided for the development of foreign talents in Xiamen, paving the way for their establishment.

In January this year, Italian expert Luigi Dabpolido successfully applied for the first foreigner work permit and social security card integrated physical security card in Fujian Province.

In recent years, Xiamen has continuously optimized services for foreign talents. It was the first in Fujian Province to launch a "one-stop" window for the joint processing of foreigner work permits and residence permits, and was the first to integrate work permits and social security cards. As of July, foreign talents working in Xiamen have cumulatively received over 300 integrated social security cards. Additionally, starting from 2024, Xiamen will implement a new introduction foreign talent subsidy policy, providing a one-time living subsidy of up to 80,000 yuan to foreign graduates working in Xiamen. A total of 33 people have received the subsidy, amounting to 2.26 million yuan.

The convenient services go far beyond this. As early as 2021, Xiamen City had successively set up four foreign talent service stations in areas where foreigners work and live, such as the First Phase of Xiamen Software Park, Guanren Community, Free Trade Zone, and the Central Hospital.

At these service stations, foreign talents can conveniently obtain a series of efficient and precise services including government affairs processing, employment and entrepreneurship guidance, academic and technical exchanges, and cultural and traditional exchanges. Staff member Liu Bingjia explained: "The service stations are like the homes of foreign talents in Xiamen. They can help them solve problems, integrate into the culture, expand social connections, and truly transform them from 'strangers in a foreign land' into local residents of Xiamen."

In June this year, Xiamen held a foreign talent exchange and matchmaking event in Beijing. The young Turkmenistani man, Begga, moved among the recruitment booths, his eyes shining with anticipation. This third-year student who studied in China had traveled around the streets and alleys of Xiamen two years ago, experiencing the sound of waves on Gulangyu Island and the aroma of Shapuwei. These experiences had already planted an affection in his heart. "Xiamen has both an international perspective and a rich sense of life," he said. "I want to come and work in Xiamen in the future."

On the same day, along with Begga, there were also 250 foreign talents from France, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea. As the first large-scale foreign talent exchange and matchmaking event held by Xiamen across provinces, this event was like an invitation to the future, marking the extension of Xiamen's city talent recruitment strategy to a broader space.

More groundbreaking is the implementation of the "Double Hundred Plan". Since 2010, Xiamen has implemented the first talent recruitment plan in the province, "Double Hundred Plan", focusing on key fields such as artificial intelligence and integrated circuits, and supporting enterprises to introduce a large number of overseas high-end talents and teams.

Dr. Alexander, a radiology expert for central nervous system tumors, is from Russia. After being introduced to Xiamen in 2022, he participated in relevant national project research and has now entered the clinical trial stage. In 2024, Alexander was selected as a high-level innovative talent under the "Double Hundred Plan" of Xiamen and received a subsidy of 1 million yuan. "These subsidies will help my project research and settle down in Xiamen," Alexander is looking forward to.

"For these innovative and entrepreneurial talent teams, we provide a maximum subsidy of 5 million yuan, to let overseas talents come and do great things." A relevant official from the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of the city said, "The talent recruitment has changed from 'wide irrigation' to 'precise irrigation', gathering strength for urban development and allowing every talent to shine in the right position."

Looking to the future, the talent recruitment blueprint of Xiamen is even more worthy of anticipation.

Relying on national-level platforms, Xiamen is actively building a comprehensive service platform for foreign talents, establishing an online and offline integrated talent recruitment model; formulating and launching a guide directory for introducing foreign talents to enhance the quality and efficiency of talent recruitment; inviting talents from universities like Cambridge and Oxford to come to Xiamen for project cooperation...

From policy innovation to service warmth, from industrial attraction to cultural inclusiveness, Xiamen is weaving a "talent network" connecting the world under the name of openness. The story of this city is being jointly written by global talents.