China needs the help of more international professionals and specialists to build itself into a country strong in innovation, Ji Yunshi, director of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA), said in an interview with China Daily reporter Wang Ying. Below is an excerpt:

Q: How does foreign expertise benefit the country's western and rural areas?

A: The introduction of foreign expertise has helped the integrated development of urban and rural areas and balanced regional development. It has contributed to the harmonious development between human beings and nature.

More than half of the overseas cooperation projects have been implemented in western and rural areas in the past few years, including those in Xinjiang.

By bringing with them advanced management experience, foreign professionals also help optimize agricultural management structures and train thousands of rural personnel.

Q: What are the priorities for personnel exchanges in the next few years?

A: We will give priority to hi-tech areas including projects that involve software and integrated circuits, energy saving and clean energy, new materials, and biotech and agricultural technologies.

We will also support the development of China's service industry by inviting overseas financial and insurance professionals and send managers overseas for training, especially in financial and credit-risk management.

Q: How will you enhance innovation among Chinese enterprises and bring in foreign expertise at the same time?

A: As the largest developing country in the world, China needs to learn from the successes of other countries in areas like economic development, technology innovation and societal progress.

We will promote exchanges and cooperation with other countries and strive for win-win partnerships and sustained development. These projects will focus on making significant breakthroughs in key technologies using our own independent intellectual property rights.

For example, with the help of United States and Canadian experts, the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Modern Physics in Lanzhou in Gansu Province has developed its own heavy ion gene targeting system for cancer treatment, making China the fourth country in the world, after the US, Japan and Germany, to use heavy ions for clinical cancer treatment.

Q: What about the SAFEA's overseas training plans?

A: SAFEA has been focusing on overseas training, especially senior personnel training. We encourage the building of "three teams" - senior interdisciplinary personnel and reserve cadres for the Party and the government, operational and managerial personnel of enterprises, and professional technicians.

We will continue the Senior Government Officials Overseas Training Program or the Harvard Training Program, the Training Project for Young and Middle-aged Leading Cadres, the University Presidents Overseas Training Project, and the Training Courses for Senior Personnel in Industrial Enterprises.

Q: What are the SAFEA's latest achievements and future plans for promoting international personnel exchanges?

A: In recent years, the SAFEA has kept up its efforts to strengthen international personnel exchanges and cooperation to make full use of domestic and international human resources.

We have been holding the annual China Conference on the International Exchange of Professionals, the Sino-US Technology and Engineering Conference, the China-Canada Agri-Science and Innovation Fair, the Sino-Russian Engineering Technology Seminar and the International Forum on Engineering Management.

These have helped establish advanced platforms for introducing foreign expertise. We have signed memorandums or agreements for cooperation with the Chamber of Technology of Greece, the Higher Education Authority of Ireland, the Korea Human Resource Developing Center and the Russia Scientific and Technological Engineering Association. We have also been giving out the Friendship, Marco Polo and Yanhuang awards annually.

We will increase efforts to bring in top-class overseas expertise, enhance overseas training, and deepen international personnel exchanges and cooperation.

We will build a favorable environment for bringing in foreign expertise and hope to make greater contributions to China's scientific, harmonious and peaceful development.

(China Daily November 30, 2007)