SANYA, Oct. 29. /TASS/. The Sanya resort, located in the southern Chinese province of Hainan, intends to expand its program to attract highly skilled workers from other regions of China and foreign countries, the Daily Hainan newspaper reported.

On April 13, 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the creation of an experimental zone and free trade port in Hainan. As part of the implementation of free trade port projects in Hainan, the local government is focusing on training and attracting highly qualified personnel to the province.

Since April 2018 and up to date, the Sanya resort has recruited more than 34,000 skilled workers, including 1,600 foreigners. Of these, 2,165 are classified as highly skilled.

In 2020, 1,336 highly qualified employees found jobs in Sanya, and 600 foreigners received work permits. It should be noted that about 70% of highly qualified personnel work in Yazhouwan Science City, Nanfang Institute of Science and Technology, as well as in various enterprises in the health care and education sectors.

This year, the Sanya resort not only has not slowed down in attracting the most promising personnel, but also significantly increased it. From January to July this year alone more than 13 thousand highly qualified workers were employed. During just these 7 months, the number of professionals invited to Sanya was higher than for the full year 2020.

Support Measures

Supportive measures and simplified processing play an important role in attracting professionals from all over China and abroad. The Sanya authorities have set up a one-stop-shop system for receiving documents and have simplified the process of obtaining work permits and residency permits for highly skilled foreign professionals.

The process, which used to take at least 10 days, can now be completed in 3-5 days. Meanwhile, the time for issuing work visas and registration for valuable specialists has been reduced to 2 days. It is possible to submit documents not only in person, but also online. In addition, the government provides them with subsidies for housing, provides preferential insurance.

Municipal authorities have created a special center for working with foreign nationals: it is designed to work with foreign investors and professionals. It has staff who speak Russian, English and Korean and help foreigners get advice and fill out necessary documents.

Education

The Hainan authorities plan not only to attract specialists, but also to create a comprehensive system of training and education of highly qualified personnel in the region. As stated in the 14th Five-Year Plan to Modernize the Education System of Hainan for the period of 2021-2025, the region plans to increase the number of foreign students on the island up to 10 thousand people by the end of the current five-year plan.

For this purpose, it is planned to build 15 international schools and kindergartens and open at least three branches of foreign universities, colleges and academies that will produce specialists in natural and technical sciences, agriculture, medicine and other fields. In addition, the government intends to create and promote the "Study in Hainan" brand. Under this program, an international educational cluster will also be created in the Yazhouwan Science City located in Sanya.

Qualification exams

To facilitate the employment of foreign personnel in Hainan, regional authorities are taking measures to organize admission of foreign nationals to Chinese qualification exams. Foreign environmental engineers got that opportunity in July. Their work experience gained overseas will automatically be equaled to that of their Chinese counterparts.

In August this year, foreign specialists in the tax field were also allowed to take qualification exams. After passing the test for professional aptitude and receiving the appropriate certificate they will be able to get jobs as fiscal agents. The new rules for the qualification examination for tax specialists are only valid in Hainan province.

The Sanya city authorities intend to attract highly qualified personnel to a number of strategically important sectors for the city. Among them are research and innovation, tourism, education, health care, culture, city administration, management, international and youth projects, information technology and modern agriculture.