The international talent market in Zhongguancun, Beijing. (Photo: VCG)
The Beijing municipal government will launch a new round of comprehensive pilot projects for greater opening up of its service sector, as the capital city thrives to create a "quasi-overseas" environment with high-quality service and living standards for international high-end talents in order to realize their innovative development.
The city on Monday announced the "Action Plan of Beijing Municipality for Further Optimizing the Business Environment (2018-2020)." The plan includes 22 major tasks, which further refine into 298 task lists that aim to create in Beijing a more convenient government environment, a more open investment and trading environment, a more favorable innovation and entrepreneurial environment, and a fairer legal environment with good faith.
In terms of further easing market access, the plan states that the municipal government will actively carry out a new round of comprehensive pilot projects for greater opening up of the city's service sector, formulate the pilot work plan, expedite the implementation of opening-up policies for the country's financial industry, further open up the service sector and improve the quality and standard of utilizing foreign capital.
The plan would implement the system of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list for all foreign investments, and reduce the negative list in the service industry. Efforts will be made to push ahead the opening up of the culture and entertainment industry to build Beijing into a cultural center. The government will also emphasize the development of the commercial service industry and the aviation transport industry, and further open up innovative elements and high-end value chain in such areas as finance and information.
According to the plan, Beijing will provide high-quality service to ensure easy household registration for innovative talents. The municipal government will provide "green passes" to secure excellent talents, implement the convenient entry-exit policy for expatriates, optimize the settlement services for returned overseas students, and further innovate talent policies to support the development of the "three cities and one area" (Zhongguancun Science City, Huairou Science City, Future Science City, and Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area) and the city's sub-enter. In order to optimize the living services for the talents, a batch of high-end educational and medical institutions in line with international standards will be established in these areas as well as in major industrial zones.
In addition, Beijing will promote the construction of international talent communities. The plan states that the city will increase effort on the construction of pilot international talent communities at Wangjing, Zhongguancun Street, Future Science City and the new Shougang comprehensive high-end industrial zone, and later expand the pilot scope to Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area as well as Tongzhou, Shunyi and Huairou districts at the appropriate time, so as to create a "quasi-overseas" environment with appropriate work-life balance for international high-end talents in Beijing.
