As part of a movement to attract overseas Chinese professionals to fill jobs in various cities across China, a delegation of high-level officials from Jinan in East China's Shandong Province interviewed over 50 candidates in New York last week for 150 positions they aim to fill in stages over the next five years as part of the city's "5-150" jobs campaign.

"Jinan is in the process of a massive structural adjustment and rapid growth," said Vice-mayor Yin Luqian. "We're looking for professionals to help with the transition and we're specifically looking for overseas Chinese."

The officials, who just wrapped up interviews in Silicon Valley, California, will also be meeting with candidates in Toronto, Canada, organizers said.

Many overseas professionals have contacted local officials in China in the hope of returning for positions in the growing tech and science fields, Yin said.

A separate delegation of officials from Fujian province met earlier this month with candidates in San Francisco, New York, Boston and Washington DC. In California, officials from universities, research institutes and businesses based in Fujian interviewed 130 overseas Chinese high-tech personnel and Chinese students, 63 of whom expressed an interest in taking up positions in Fujian.

In November 2009, a job fair organized by the Shanghai government in New Jersey attracted over 700 candidates, with fewer than 10 candidates being of foreign descent, organizers said.

The job delegations searching for overseas Chinese candidates are not officially affiliated, organizers of the Jinan job fair said, although initiatives like the "1,000 People Plan", announced by the national government in 2009 to facilitate the hiring of returning overseas Chinese professionals, have provided them with inspiration.

Whereas the national plan includes financial rewards for applicants who are chosen, the Jinan city government will also offer financial incentives to new employees, said Yao Dewu, deputy HR director for the Jinan city government, with monetary awards ranging from 10,000 to 500,000 yuan (US$1,470 to US$73,200).

Jinan has long been known as an industrial manufacturing city, Qian said, but there is a growing need for trained experts specifically in the fields of financial management, medicine, computer tech and science.

As a drawing point, Yin pointed to Jinan's reputation as a "city of gardens" and listed improved living conditions and opportunities to attract recruits.

(China Daily April 26, 2010)