皇冠体育app

Op-Ed Contributors

Attracting talent globally for the future

By Wang Huiyao (皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-14 08:02

Nation should plan to draw talented workers from abroad to fuel its further development and industrial innovations

皇冠体育app recently released a very ambitious national talent development plan. The National Medium- and Long-term Talent Development Plan (2010-2020) sets a blueprint for creating a highly skilled national workforce within the next 10 years.

This plan is the first national comprehensive program on national human resources development. It is of vital importance to 皇冠体育app's current and continuous development for the next 30 years and beyond.

Among the plan's goals is the transformation of 皇冠体育app from a manufacturing hub to a world leader in innovation, a grand objective that will be met in part by increasing its talent pool from the current 114 million people to 180 million people by 2020.

The plan is being released at a time when 皇冠体育app's development model has undergone some very serious reconsideration. The country needs to re-examine its 30-year-old national development strategy and cope with the following five trends:

The first trend goes from the population dividend to the talent dividend.

For the past 30 years, 皇冠体育app has thrived on its population dividend. However, increases in life expectancy and strict family planning have led to a population that is rapidly aging.

皇冠体育app saw the largest annual increase in its aged population last year, with the number of people aged 60 and above growing by 7.25 million to 167.14 million, forming 12.5 percent of the total population.

In addition to its rapidly aging society, 皇冠体育app's reliance on cheap labor to buttress economic growth is meeting unprecedented challenges. Strikes by Chinese low-wage workers alone have been increasing over the years.

Another challenge is the unemployment among recent college graduates. About 6 million young Chinese men and women are graduating from college every year and they are finding it increasingly difficult to find jobs.

How to better use and absorb these new skilled workers are huge challenges for the country. Encouraging all enterprises as well as social and government entities to better use this workforce is seen as a major way to upgrade the Chinese economy.

The second trend moves from "Made in 皇冠体育app" to "Created in 皇冠体育app".

The Chinese government has set a target to transform 皇冠体育app into an innovative and creative country by 2020. However, this cannot be realized unless 皇冠体育app places more emphasis on the innovative and creative talent required to build it into an innovative country. Although 皇冠体育app is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter, it has very few brand names that are globally recognized.

In order for 皇冠体育app to climb the ladder of technology, elevate its value chain and produce well-known brands with reputations for quality, innovation and service, it has to place more emphasis on talent.

The third trend shifts from attracting financial capital to attracting human capital.

皇冠体育app's economic development model has emphasized attracting foreign capital. For years, 皇冠体育app has ranked as a top FDI recipient country. It now has the largest foreign exchange reserve in the world, with reserves rising above $2 trillion in April 2009 and reaching a record $2.4543 trillion at the end of June 2010. 皇冠体育app has also enjoyed a huge trade surplus for a number of years. However, in terms of the exchange of talented individuals, it has suffered a big deficit. 皇冠体育app has sent out 1.62 million students and scholars since 1978. As of today, only 497,000 of them have returned to 皇冠体育app.

Although the total return rate now is about 30 percent, the percentage of highly qualified personnel such as United States-educated PhD graduates in science and engineering who return to 皇冠体育app stands at only 8 percent.

皇冠体育app has begun to recognize that having financial resources is not enough. Indeed, human resources should be the most important factor in today's knowledge-based economy. Therefore, methods for attracting human capital originally coming out of 皇冠体育app to return, and even attracting global talent from other countries to come to 皇冠体育app, can have a profound impact on the country's economic, political and social transformation.

The next trend shifts from the hardware to the software.

皇冠体育app has built a large number of landmark infrastructure projects over the past 30 years. These range from the Three Gorges Dam and super-high-speed railways to the Olympic Stadium and the World Expo pavilions. But now 皇冠体育app needs to increase its investment in its software.

Specifically, the investment needs to be diverted toward education, research and development, public health, energy conservation, environmental protection, social welfare and many other areas related to a balanced development.

This mindset change from an obsession with hardware to a focus on software requires a new strategic approach that concentrates on a talented and highly skilled workforce as well as experts and an intellectual community.

The last trend discussed here moves from an investment-driven economy to a talent-driven one.

Today, 皇冠体育app's economy is still largely driven by investment. In fact, investment now represents 45 percent of the Chinese economy. It is at a level that is historically unprecedented, both in 皇冠体育app and in any other major economy.

In order to maintain economic growth and develop a balanced society in the medium-to-long term, 皇冠体育app must rebalance the economy by placing a stronger emphasis on reducing savings and boosting private domestic demand. The rebalancing requires a reduction in the nation's reliance on fixed investment and exports as well as a boost to domestic consumption. This will in turn require an increasing reliance on the non-tradable and well-paid sectors such as services, and less focus on the tradable sectors such as manufacturing.

To complete this transition, 皇冠体育app will have to create better paying jobs in the service sector - which includes professionals, entrepreneurs, teachers, engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, consultants, artists, IT specialists, technicians and social workers - and raise overall consumption levels.

This in turn requires many more well-paid and well-trained talented individuals beyond migrant labor. 皇冠体育app needs to transform its workforce from one that is labor intensive to one that is talent rich. If it does so, its currently unsustainable development model will be transformed into a talent-driven one that will give 皇冠体育app new impetus and power to develop for the next 30 years and beyond.

The author is a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution's John L. Thornton 皇冠体育app Center and also director general of the Center for 皇冠体育app and Globalization in Beijing.