Shanghai's Pudong New Area has built itself into a talent hub by creating a better academic and living environment in international schools, communities and hospitals to attract more talents from overseas. [Photo/WeChat account: sh-italent]

Two entrepreneurs from Japan received their Foreigner's Work Permit at the 2020 Shanghai Global Talent Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit held in Shanghai's Pudong New Area on Dec 24.

Local authorities said that the issuance of such working permits will make it easier for foreign talents to work in the area.

Pudong has been at the frontier of China's reform and opening-up for the past 30 years, achieving impressive advances in its social and economic development. It has paid more attention to attracting high-level talents from across the world, as well as fostered enabling conditions for the development of talents, making the area an appealing place for outstanding talents.

Pudong, which means east of the Huangpu River, was once an underdeveloped area, where people had little to no interest to invest, work or live there. However, changes came in the early 1990s when the State Council decided to develop the area to increase the population, while boosting enterprises and implementing more reforms.

Over the past 30 years, Pudong has bolstered efforts to explore new-type of commercial services related to human resources, and made many "firsts" in the country, such as the Personnel Agent System, said Wang Ying, director of the Pudong New Area Talent Exchange Center.

Through years of development, Pudong has cultivated a number of professional human resource service agencies, and the area is building itself into a talent hub by creating a better academic and living environment in international schools, communities, and hospitals to attract more talents from overseas, Wang added.

In recent years, Pudong launched a dedicated system for overseas talents to receive permanent residence. It also further streamlined administration, which has enabled access to government services via a single website to make it easier for overseas talents to solve their problems through one single department offering one-stop service.

Pudong will further improve its innovation and entrepreneurship environment, as well as make efforts to improve supporting capabilities including living services, medical treatment, education, and culture to make it a gathering place for global high-end professionals, according to an official of the area.

Centering on its six core industries, Pudong has allocated more special funds for postdoctoral research in the past year, increasing the amount from 100,000 yuan ($15,481) to 200,000. Ten branch stations of post-doctoral research workstations were set up in the area last year, hitting a record high.

Pudong also released a new pattern for enterprises to set up post-doctoral research workstations in the area, and 37 key enterprises went online to release 70 post-doctoral positions.

At the Pudong International Talent Hub, located in the heart of Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Pudong New Area, visa applicants can obtain work and residence permits in a single visit. The one-stop online service platform unveiled by the talent hub can also help applicants manage to book physical examinations and apply for both permits by filling in one online form.

"I didn't expect that it would only take five days to obtain my work and residence permits," said Jacob, a German who works in Shangri-La Group.

The Pudong International Talent Hub has currently attracted a number of service organizations for human resources, which handle things like recruitment, salary evaluation, and talent training.