THE TALENT MAGNET

Tech giants Huawei and Tencent were born in Shenzhen, which has become a cutting-edge research and development center in south China’s Guangdong Province. Throughout the past four decades of reform and opening up, it has been a pioneer in en- couraging hi-tech innovation and incubating the groundbreaking research of entrepreneurs. With more young talented people pouring in, the hi-tech industry and the academic environ- ment are ushering in an era of transformation. “Before I visited Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, I never thought of returning to China,” 40-year-old Deng Weiwei, now a professor in the Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering at SUSTech, told Beijing Review on May 7.

In May 2016, Deng, an associate professor at Virginia Tech (VT), gave a lecture at SUSTech, where he met the university’s president Chen Shiyi, who then invited him to come back to China and teach at SUSTech.

After visiting Shenzhen and SUSTech, his wife said to him, “I tried very hard to find a rea- son to stop you from moving back, but I have to admit that I haven’t found one.” On January 26, 2017, Deng handed in his resignation letter and flew to Shenzhen with his wife and daughter.

Deng is an example of many overseas returnees who are flocking to Shenzhen. At present, over 90 percent of the teaching and research staff at SUSTech is made up of over- seas returnees and more than 60 percent have educational or work experience at the world’s top 100 universities. It is one of the few universi- ties in China with the tenured-track system. Qualified applicants are also encouraged to apply for the Recruitment Program of Global Experts under the state-sponsored Thousand Talents Plan through SUSTech. Successful applicants receive up to 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) in research funds and a 4.5-million- yuan ($704,000) living allowance from the government.

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