Shadow agents in China’s talent war help recruit outstanding overseas scientists to boost self-reliance

 

Shadow agents in China's talent war help recruit outstanding foreign scientists to boost self-sufficiency

A growing number of talent agencies are using low-key methods that go unnoticed in the global search for scientists China is working hard to lure back top talent in its quest for scientific and technological self-reliance Four years ago, when robotics scientist Geng Tao was working in the UK, he was invited by the local government in China to attend an event. 

The main purpose was to help the city near Shanghai grow into a more technologically advanced economy. Geng said scientists and engineers from a number of countries in Canada and Britain were gathered for an online group chat by a government-backed agency aimed at "top foreign talent and project matching and communication".

"When a local government publishes an advertisement that intends to attract qualified, Western-trained, many interested people, they are likely to respond, which would be a challenge for the government to discuss. Therefore, governments are gradually delegating this task to trusted intermediaries," Geng said. 

According to one agent, this is especially beneficial for domestic companies, which often have trouble finding talent from overseas, and some high-level positions are not publicly advertised. With more than 10 years of experience, an agent, who did not wish to be named, told the Post that the number of such agencies started to grow after the launch of the Thousand Talent Plan (TTP) in 2008, which is considered the most significant initiative. to bring the world's leading scientists to China.

And despite rising geopolitical tensions, she said, the agencies have prospered even more since 2018, when the US government prosecuted scientists of Chinese descent on charges of economic espionage over a four-year period. "Those who previously could go to recruitment in person, including government officials or university presidents, in most cases could no longer go," she said. One manager from the Zhejiang-based agency, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his agency has offices in the US, Singapore and across the country, allowing them to contact and select global talent for the government. It is unclear how many such agencies exist in China and around the world. But the manager said they were on the rise, although he did not specify whether this was a direct result of the deteriorating political climate.

China is working hard to attract outstanding foreign talent in an effort to improve its scientific and technological self-sufficiency. It is a systematic action involving local governments, agents, headhunting firms and even personal contacts. Some public, large-scale campaigns dominated the show. However, in recent years there has been a growing demand for agents who operate outside the limelight.

According to a paper published in Nature in 2018, TTP attracted more than 7,000 people in its first 10 years of operation. While 2018 marked the 10th anniversary of the TTP, it was also the year the Trump administration in the US launched a controversy that targeted the scientist for perceived links to Beijing.

About 150 academic researchers were openly investigated and two dozen were charged with crimes before the initiative was taken down by the Justice Department in February 2022. Soon after the US initiative was introduced, China took down the online list of TTP members and stopped promoting the talent program.

The manager of the Zhejiang-based agency introduced his organization as a semi-governmental institution that mainly offers three types of services. The first is to help the government find the most suitable and qualified expatriates under various talent programs. Unlike regular headhunting firms that find talent for corporations, the agency is heavily tied to the government, which pays them once they successfully recruit one person.

A Chinese biologist living near Boston, whose surname is Wang but did not want to give his first name, recalled a time several years ago when Shi Yigong, president of Westlake University in eastern Zhejiang Province, gave a lecture at Harvard University in which he expressed his intention to recruit high quality scholars.

With generous start-up packages, equipment support and favorable policies, growing hi-tech companies are now highly encouraged in China. This agency also assists foreign scientists looking for opportunities to establish an entity that will apply for these benefits based on their needs.

"That's impossible today," Wang said, explaining that the U.S. is now much more vigilant about such "poaching" activities, and Chinese scientists, except those with U.S. green cards, are largely restricted from entering the country, let alone they tried. there to hunt for talent. Deteriorating relations brought about some new practices and regulations. The TTP has become a sensitive matter and therefore it has been redesigned and is being implemented in more ways.

Those planning to work in China's private or state-owned companies under the TTP are now in the candidate pool for schemes such as the Qiming and Changcheng projects, the agent said. The Young Thousand Talents program, which was established in 2010 to recruit and nurture early-career foreign scholars returning to China after obtaining doctorates abroad, has been renamed Distinguished Young Scholars (Overseas).

Meanwhile, the manager said confidentiality is reaching new heights in protecting applicants who conduct cutting-edge research and technological development. For example, sensitive material will not be transmitted online, such as through social media platforms.

Unless there are specific personal reasons, senior researchers of Chinese descent are hesitant and wary of A Chinese nanotechnology scientist who has worked in the U.S. for more than two decades told the Post on condition of anonymity that while offline cross-border activities in academia are becoming more difficult, he feels that efforts to bring foreign-trained scientists back to China are even more active.

Over the past six months, he has received many emails inviting him to participate in online forums - a way to gather expat job seekers and identify potential candidates for universities or research institutions. "I couldn't get the exact number of emails, but I estimate it's about a 50 percent increase over previous years," he said, adding that he has also been approached by headhunting firms on social media platforms such as LinkedIn.

Both the agent and the manager said talent programs are being run at various levels of government in China, with more options than ever to target talent of different ages and years of experience, including young PhD students, high school scholars and established professionals. However, all the researchers interviewed pointed out that the most prestigious figures, whether in academia or industry, are much more likely to make career changes through personal contacts instead of these agents.

"As far as I know, the best brains are obtained by invitation from loved ones whom they trust," said biologist Wang. Senior researchers or leading entrepreneurs will not apply for a position advertised online. For example, neuroscientist Fu Xiangdong, who was forced to resign from the University of California, San Diego earlier this year due to a collaboration with Wuhan University, joined Westlake University in March to continue his research on Parkinson's disease and other degenerative conditions.

A department dean at a leading Chinese university, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Post that Fu was invited by Westlake's president and received handsome grants. He said that signing an employment contract with scientists at this level would only be on a "case-by-case basis". But for scientists, relocating from Western society back to China is a major decision. "Although curbs and scrutiny are being tightened, unless there are specific personal reasons, senior researchers of Chinese descent are hesitant and cautious to do so," Wang said.

The possibility that working in Chinese institutions may limit or even end their connection with the US, potential difficulties in adapting to a new work environment or system, and in addition the fear that some of the promised conditions may not be met, are among the reasons for their hesitation. A few months ago, a nanotechnology scientist traveled to China. In various cities, he found himself inundated with talent programs offered by provincial and municipal governments, "almost everywhere".