Tech war: China quietly recruits overseas chip talent as US tightens curbs
The Chinese government is pushing a talent programme called Qiming targeting scientific and technological fields, such as semiconductorss for Qiming applicants have been posted on LinkedIn and Chinese Q&A platform Zhihu by self-identified recruitersSemiconductorsReutersPublished: 3:46pm, 25 Aug, 2023Why you can trust SCMP
For a decade until 2018, China sought to recruit elite foreign-trained scientists under a lavishly funded programme that Washington viewed as a threat to US interests and technological supremacy.
Two years after it stopped promoting the Thousand Talents Plan (TTP) amid US investigations of scientists, China quietly revived the initiative under a new name and format as part of a broader mission to accelerate its tech proficiency, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter and a Reuters review of over 500 government documents spanning 2019 to 2023.
The revamped recruitment drive, reported in detail by Reuters for the first time, offers perks including home-purchase subsidies and typical signing bonuses of 3 to 5 million yuan, or US$420,000 to US$700,000, the three people told Reuters.
China operates talent programmes at various levels of government, targeting a mix of overseas Chinese and foreign experts. The primary replacement for TTP is a programme called Qiming overseen by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, according to national and local policy documents, online recruitment advertisements and a person with direct knowledge of the matter who, as with others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity.