Beijing unveils ‘battle plan’ to supercharge innovation hub, lure foreign talent

Name: China tests high-speed magnetic levitation train that could move as fast as a plane
Uploaded: 2023-05-19T11:00:13.000Z
Duration: 1 min 17 s
Description: China tests high-speed magnetic levitation train that could move as fast as a plane

Beijing International Science and Technology Innovation Centre, to be overseen by China’s president, is set to be completed by 2025

Massive project aims to build out city’s existing facilities to become a pre-eminent science and tech base

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As China faces escalating pressure from the West, a new plan from Beijing aims to transform its existing tech hub into a pre-eminent science base. Photo: Shutterstock

William Zheng

Published: 7:00pm, 19 May 2023

China will step up its bid to compete with other world-class innovation centres like Silicon Valley by building an international science and technology innovation complex in Beijing, to be completed by 2025.

Plans for the Beijing International Science and Technology Innovation Centre – to be personally overseen by President Xi Jinping – were announced on Thursday and called for Beijing to offer attractive visa, work permit, and long-term residence options through a “new round of facilitation policies for foreign talent”.

Under the plan, Beijing must improve its ability to “independently cultivate high-quality” science talent by helping colleges and universities speed up implementation and improvements to various disciplines. Reforms to engineering education will aim to improve training for high-quality engineers.

China faces escalating pressure from the United States, which intends to compete with China on many fronts – especially in technology sectors like semiconductor production – as the US sanctions many Chinese hi-tech institutions and companies, a move Beijing sees as part of a plot to curb China’s technological progress.

Washington’s measures have prompted Beijing to take “resolute countermeasures” and embark on a quest for technological self-reliance, hoping to achieve breakthroughs in key supply chain bottlenecks, like high-end computer chips.

The plan will be jointly managed by 12 government agencies, including the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Beijing Municipal Government, and the National Development and Reform Commission – China’s top economic planner, according to an announcement posted on their websites.

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China tests high-speed magnetic levitation train that could move as fast as a plane

The announcement said the Beijing International Science and Technology Innovation Centre would become a “world-leading source of innovation for cutting-edge science and emerging industries”.