A bird's-eye view of Suzhou New District. [Photo/WeChat account: snd-szgxqfb]
Suzhou New District has been striving to attract high-end personnel from across the globe and has improved related talent policies in recent years.
Statistics show that the district is currently home to about 278,000 professionals, of which 39,000 are high-end talents and more than 2,000 are leading talents at various levels. The aggregated annual output value of enterprises run by leading talents has exceeded 30 billion yuan ($4.71 billion).
The main talent index of SND also ranked first in the city. It has been designated an "Advanced Area of Scientific and Technological Work for Talents" for three consecutive years by the Suzhou municipal government. It was also honored by the Ministry of Science and Technology as a "Demonstration Base of Innovative Talents Training."
SND is currently accelerating the construction of Nanjing University's Suzhou campus. A faculty team of 1,000 high-end professors and lecturers will be introduced when the school starts operating in September 2022.
The district recently launched its association for Western returned scholars. There are 80 original members, nearly 90 percent of which have master's degrees or higher and are working in industries like biological medicine, new materials, new energy, smart equipment, as well as culture.
According to a preferential policy released by SND in November 2020, the district will provide more than 200 leading entrepreneurial individuals or teams every year with financial aid of up to 50 million yuan for project investment, 6 million yuan for resettlement subsidies, as well as 3 years of full rent subsidies for office space spanning up to 2,000 square meters. For innovation leaders, SND will increase the proportion of support to 30 projects each year, with a maximum of 1-million-yuan project funding and 1-million-yuan relocation subsidy.
