Recruiting in China

The Chinese government has announced a list of professional elites that it plans to include in its talent recruitment program — the 10,000 Plan — which aims to provide financial, policy and service support to 10,000 science and technology professionals in China, reports the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po newspaper.

The 10,000 Plan plans to recruit 100 world-class scientists that have the potential to win coveted Nobel prizes, 8,000 professionals much needed for China's technology sectors such as innovators, entrepreneurs, philosophy and social science majors and educators, as well as 2,000 young people under the age of 35 with great potential in other areas.

The organization department of the Communist Party's Central Committee oversaw the propaganda department, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology in implementing the program, which had its launch in September last year.

A number of talents have been listed in the program since July of this year, which includes six scientists, 72 technological innovators, 199 "young people with great potential," 201 technology entrepreneurs, 94 philosophy and social science specialists, 101 educators and 98 engineering experts.

Beijing plans to provide 1 million yuan (US$164,000) in financial support to each of the individuals to carry out research, freeing them from administrative hassles such as applying for grants. The central government will also provide policy and service support.

The program is a successor of the 1,000 Plan, also a recruitment program which launched at the end of 2008. The program has successfully recruited 4,000 individuals at home and abroad including 40 top scientists from developed countries.

Six high-profile scientists have been included in the 10,000 Plan: Liu Zhongfan is a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Science who has made a series of breakthroughs in his research on low-dimension carbon materials; Xue Qikun, also a member of the academy known for his research on scanning tunneling microscopy; Wang Yifang, president of the Institute of High Energy Physics of the academy; Zhou Zhonghe, a Chinese Academy of Science researcher who is an expert in bird evolution; Lu Ke, also a researcher with the academy who specializes in applying nanotechnology on metal surfaces; and Ma Yongsheng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Engineering who has carried out research on oil and natural gas resources and their exploration.

Chinese internet users were skeptical however that Nobel prizes could be "attacked" in this way and criticized the government for treating the awards like the country's sports program treats the Olympic Games, adding that the six scientists named on the list do not carry out their research with the sole aim of winning a Nobel. One of them, Zhou Zhonghe, said people should not focus on the prestige of winning the awards but rather the overall improvement of China's scientific skills and urged the country's society to avoid seeking the appearance of success in the short term, according to the Chinese-language Beijing Times.