The Pudong New Area district, Shanghai's financial and IT center, is seeking to attract talented people by offering a host of incentives, Huang Zhong, vice-director of the district's personnel bureau, said on Monday.

Individuals employed as senior financial or IT executives will be entitled to relocation compensation, low income tax, subsidized medical insurance, and housing close to their offices, Huang said.

Companies will also be subsidized for recruiting, training, as well for renting accommodation for their new employees, he said.

"We are looking for talented people to work in our district, as a lack of top talent is hindering the district's further development. We particularly need specialists in finance and technology." Huang said.

The bureau's statistics show that after 18 years of reform and development, the district now has 460,000 people who have at least a university degree or specialized skills.

More than 80,000 of them are expats or Chinese who have studied abroad.

But it is still far from enough as the city is stepping up efforts to build itself into an international center for finance and the economy by 2012, Huang said.

In three years, the government is planning to spend at least 2 billion yuan ($292 million) to make the district attractive to professionals, he said.

For example, 37,000 apartment units will be built to accommodate them, and those who move to the district will receive up to 200,000 yuan in relocation expenses.

An apartment building in Lujiazui that will accommodate banking executives will be completed in September next year. It will contain 120 units, each an average size of 280 sq m.

People who make a special contribution to the development of the industries will be granted permanent residency.

Special tax policies that will cut the rate from the maximum 45 percent to about 20 to 25 percent are being studied.

(China Daily July 4, 2008)