City employs foreign talent to boost trade
Print Edition
A MULTI-LINGUAL lawyer from Uruguay, a British IT expert and a Londoner enthusiastic about research, have been chosen by a Chinese organization and given a challenging task.
They are part of a team of foreign employees hired by the local government in Foshan City in south China’s Guangdong Province.
Last year, the Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of Foshan City decided to hire a team of five foreigners for its Foshan Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA).
The organization wanted a “more international” business environment, explained Zhou Zhitong, bureau director.
Three members of the team are now in position.
Their job is to distribute international investment information, communicate with transnational companies, as well as design and maintain FIPA’s English website.
“Other local governments have hired foreign experts or advisors, but having foreign talent involved in the government’s everyday work is completely new,” Zhou said. “We can’t be sure everything will work out, but nevertheless it is a step further in opening up the government.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with 50 foreign experts in Shanghai last month and called for a more open policy to attract highly skilled talent from overseas.
The country is also looking to relax its green card policy by lowering the application and approval threshold, as it attempts to entice more foreign talent.
Chris Blake, 32, graduated from the University of Plymouth in England. For the past six months, he has been designing and constructing en4cn.com.
The website, which is yet to be officially launched, will primarily look to attract foreign investors to Foshan City.
It also contains information about “living here, the restaurants, the nightlife,” Blake said.
Blake and his teammates Nicolas Santo and Abbey Heffer have digested documents, statistics and reports about the city to present them in a foreigner-friendly way.
‘Knocking down walls’
Santo, a 26-year-old visiting scholar of Harvard Law School, described the process as “knocking down the walls.”
The Uruguayan became interested in China during his teenage years. He obtained a master’s degree in law from Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2012.
Before joining FIPA, he turned down an offer from a bank in Washington.
“I am here because I want to do something new and creative,” he said.
Heffer, 22, said the job offers a rare chance to observe China from the inside.
FIPA’s move has won support but also attracted some criticism.
Some argue as government jobs are hard to get for Chinese, it is unfair for authorities to employ foreigners and pay them with taxpayers’ money.
Netizen “nice2061” posted on Sina Weibo, “The government should seek taxpayers’ permission before employing foreigners.”
“Foreign staff take some vacancies, but their contribution may create more jobs tomorrow,” Zhou said.
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