How fierce is the competition for talent in second-tier cities?

In recent years, many fast-growing second-tier cities have increasingly demanded talents. In order to maintain and enhance urban competitiveness, a series of policies to attract talents such as rental subsidies and settlement policies have been introduced. . According to experts, the awareness of second- and third-tier governments in various regions is still at the level of attracting domestic talents, while first-tier cities should expand their vision to select talents from around the world.

On September 11, 2017, the Globalization Think Tank (CCG), the Development Research Institute of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, and the Social Science Literature Press released the "2017 China Regional International Talent Competitiveness Report" (hereinafter referred to as "Report") Blue Book. According to the "Report", China's regional international talent competitiveness is distributed in three echelons, and the overall level needs to be improved urgently.

The "Report" stated that Shanghai has become the region with the highest international talent competitiveness in this assessment, with Beijing, Guangdong and Jiangsu ranking 2-4, and together with Shanghai, they form China's regional international talent competitiveness. the first echelon.

Provinces with rapid development in the southeastern coastal and central and western regions form the second echelon. Zhejiang serves as the leader of the second echelon. The second echelon also includes Liaoning, Shandong, Tianjin, Fujian, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hebei, Anhui, Shaanxi, Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Heilongjiang, Chongqing and Henan.

The third echelon is mainly provinces in the central and western regions with slower international development, including Xinjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Hainan, Guizhou, Shanxi, Tibet, Ningxia, Qinghai and Gansu.

Zheng Jinlian, deputy secretary-general of CCG Research, affirmed the effectiveness of the investment made by various cities in attracting talents. "The 2013 "China Regional Talent Competitiveness Report" also conducted rankings. At that time, the ranking echelons and There are no big changes compared to now. This shows that cities with more investment are actually more able to maintain their performance. The three northeastern provinces were basically ranked at the bottom in the last blue book. It is even more obvious now, so policy investment and capital investment are still effective. ".

Zheng Jinlian pointed out, "The investment in the three eastern provinces, especially the investment at the policy level, lags far behind that of the eastern coastal cities. Therefore, a comparison can tell the effect and the reason for the investment."

In recent years, some fast-growing second-tier cities have had an increasing demand for talents. In order to maintain and enhance the city’s competitiveness, a series of policies to attract talents have been introduced, including rental subsidies, settlement Policies, project funding, talent apartments, one-time rewards, etc. Wuhan, Xi'an and Changsha, as representatives, have proposed plans to retain one million college students or attract one million college students to find jobs and start businesses.

Currently, according to data from the China Index Academy, there are 15 cities in Tianjin, Chongqing, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao, Changsha, Wuxi, Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Jinan, Xi'an, Nanchang, and Xiamen The city has issued corresponding policies. In this battle to “rob people”, household registration, housing and cash subsidies are all important. In terms of household registration, second-tier cities have almost zero threshold for undergraduate graduates to settle down, and many cities also provide rental subsidies for settling down.

In terms of housing, Nanjing issued the "Resettlement Measures for Talents", proposing to ensure that 160,000 talents can live and work in peace and contentment, mainly for qualified university graduates and newly employed people in the park. Qualified six types of talents can enjoy five types of benefits: privately owned houses, talent apartments, public rental housing, house purchase subsidies and rental subsidies.

Chengdu announced that it will vigorously implement the "Rongpiao" plan, implement the talent housing project, increase the construction of talent apartments and rental housing, and provide 7 days of free accommodation for fresh graduates with a bachelor's degree or above from other places who apply for employment in Chengdu. It has established a youth talent station and put rental housing for talents in the new industrial city, so that the majority of "Rongpiao" people can live in housing and have a secure home.

Financial subsidies are also a major priority. Hangzhou has launched a "housing subsidy + car subsidy"; Fuzhou City Finance has provided each fresh graduate student with a resettlement subsidy of 150,000 yuan, and employers have helped coordinate and solve housing difficulties. In addition to subsidizing graduates and key talents, no expense has been spared. Hangzhou, Nanjing and Wuxi have provided up to 100 million yuan in subsidies for top talents and teams.

“I think from a national perspective, although individual cities have begun to notice the importance of talents, in general, the result of attracting talents is that there are more people in the city, management is inconvenient, and various All kinds of institutional obstacles make it difficult for you to live here.” Xie Shouguang, president of Social Science Literature Publishing House, emphasized, “To retain talents, we also need to consider the talent living index, which is the living index in the city.”

However, the household registration quota in first-tier cities, represented by Beijing, is gradually tightening, and more policies are beginning to favor international talents. For example, the relevant person in charge of the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau stated as early as 2014 that the quota for entry into Beijing would not exceed 10,000 people and would gradually tighten in the future.

According to the "Report", in terms of policies, first-tier cities have begun to introduce more policies to attract international talents. In recent years, the Ministry of Public Security has introduced 20 entry-exit policies to support Beijing's innovative development, 12 and 10 new entry-exit measures to support the Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center, and 16 new entry-exit measures to support the construction of the Guangdong Free Trade Zone and the Fujian Pilot Free Trade Zone. With the 10 new entry and exit policies, it has greatly supported high-level talents at home and abroad to innovate and start businesses in China. my country's international talent policy innovation with the eastern coastal areas as the pioneer is forming a catching-up trend, and regional international talent competition is achieving new developments and breakthroughs. .

According to the "Report", overall, Guangdong, Beijing, Jiangsu, Shandong and Shanghai have the highest international talent living index. Research analysis shows that Guangdong and Jiangsu have abundant medical resources. The number of tertiary hospitals in 2015 was 132 and 135 respectively; while Beijing and Shanghai have more international schools. In 2015, the number of international schools certified by the Ministry of Education was respectively For the 20th and 21st schools. It is worth mentioning that the central and western regions have good potential in terms of the living environment for international talents. Its air quality and park green space are attractive to international talents who pay more attention to the quality of life. This natural environment needs to be further improved. Attractiveness is transformed into the ability to attract international talents to settle in and develop.

Wang Huiyao, editor-in-chief of the "Report" and dean of the Development Research Institute of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, said: "Now that we have passed the stage of attracting middle- and low-end labor, the market for migrant workers is gradually shrinking, and every year college students become the What cities are competing for. In fact, first-tier cities need to compete for international talents, such as those from Silicon Valley or from developed countries, including Israel and Ireland, who can start businesses."

He emphasized that European and American countries have a great competitive advantage over China, that is, they have long attached importance to the introduction of international talents. The United States has absorbed more than 60% of the world's talents.

“We have two challenges in terms of international talent competitiveness. One is that the number of international talents introduced is at a low level in the world, and the other is that we have a lot of brain drain and a large number of our talents remain overseas. At present, the awareness of second- and third-tier governments in various places is still at the level of retaining domestic talents. I think first-tier cities should look at selecting talents from around the world, not just 1.3 billion candidates, but 7 billion candidates. This is our future. Development direction." Wang Huiyao suggested.