The official in charge of foreign experts' affairs has promised to offer more appealing packages to attract foreign talents.

Ji Yunshi, director of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA), said the country is in dire need of talented people from abroad to help with development and innovation.

"We will announce more laws and regulations as well as preferential policies to better protect foreign experts' rights and interests by working together with government departments," he told China Daily.

The regulations and policies will help address foreign experts' difficulties such as medical and social insurance, education for children and employment for spouses, he explained.

Ji said SAFEA departments across the country have been ordered to upgrade services to create a good living and working environment for expats.

"All foreign experts affairs departments should be like homes for foreign experts," he said.

An increasing number of foreign talents have been coming to the country in recent years, with the figure reaching 200,000 a year.

The 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) on Foreign Expertise Introduction hopes to attract 150,000 top-notch professionals in such fields as agriculture, energy saving and new energy, information technology, new materials and biotechnology.

"We also support the development of the service industry by inviting overseas financial and insurance experts and sending managerial personnel overseas for training, especially in financial and credit risk management."

The SAFEA has authorized more than 370 overseas organizations to oversee personnel exchange activities in China and organized dozens of job fairs for foreigners.

In the latest effort, the 2007 Conference on International Exchange of Professionals, sponsored by the SAFEA, will be held today in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

More than 2,500 foreign experts and overseas professionals from more than 40 countries and regions are expected to attend the conference, the sixth of its kind.

(China Daily November 30, 2007)