New foreign hires at Zhongguancun Science Park will enjoy generous visa terms and will also get the coveted permanent residence certificate, which confers greater freedom of cross-border travel as well as local economic benefits.
Foreigners with permanent residence will also be allowed to head national-level innovation projects, and serve as the legal representative of new scientific research institutions in China, the Beijing municipal government said in a statement at a media briefing on Tuesday.
China has laid out a roadmap to become a world leader in AI by 2030, aiming to surpass European and US dominance in cutting-edge technologies and build a domestic industry worth almost $150 billion.
It has established dozens of new high-tech parks and incubators aimed at promoting technologies such as AI, robotics and big data. But the talent pool at Zhongguancun Science Park, or Z-Park, still falls short of that in San Francisco, said Liu Minhua, head of the talent management division of the Beijing
“Z-Park only has over 10,000 foreign hires,” Liu told Reuters on the sidelines of the briefing. “In Silicon Valley, a third of the population comprises tech talent from all over the world.”
The goal is to attract top-notch scientists and their innovation teams to come to Beijing, Liu said, with large talent gaps in AI and supercomputing. Z-Park has 10 overseas liaison offices designed to attract tech talents in countries like the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and Finland.
 "China's silicon valley")