In Suifenhe, a city in northeast China's Heilongjiang
Province, the number of people crossing the Sino-Russian border
rose to a record 1.2 million in 2004. Many are top-notch
professionals from Russia, coming to seek opportunities in China's
fast-growing economy.
Wan Xueyuan, head of the State Administration of Foreign Experts
Affairs (SAFEA),
said that China plans to recruit more experts from Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS) countries. Wan was speaking at a meeting
of specialists on foreign experts affairs held on Tuesday in
Beijing.
Pointing to China's historical and geographical ties with CIS
countries, Wan was optimistic about bringing in more top scientists
from those countries.
SAFEA reports that in 2003, the largest numbers of professionals
from abroad came from Japan, South Korea and the United States.
Together they accounted for 62.4 percent of overall arrivals, while
Russians accounted for only 4.7 percent.
However, 70 percent of the foreign experts working in
Heilongjiang Province come from CIS countries, mainly from Russia,
and some 85 percent of them hold doctorates.
"Russia is a treasure trove of top professionals. It has its own
Silicon Valley, which turns out 70 percent of the new high
technology in Russia," said Xu Hongguang, head of the Heilongjiang
Foreign Experts Bureau. "The Russian experts in China are here not
only to develop cutting-edge technology, but also to develop
technology for civil use."
According to Xu, Heilongjiang will this year recruit more
experts from Russia and Ukraine. They are expected to help with
various matters such as setting up accident prevention systems in
coal mines, developing local economies and treating eye
diseases.
Liaoning
Province has signed a contract with the Russian Academy of
Sciences to establish a high-tech transfer center to digest
hundreds of technological items from Russia, while Shenyang
Engineering University has a cooperative arrangement with Tomskaya
Polytechnic University.
"Many factors have contributed to the rise in incoming Russian
experts, including China's booming manufacturing business and
improved attitudes toward the employment of foreign experts," said
Yuan Xudong, an official from the SAFEA.
(China Daily March 3, 2005)