Shandong feels a boost from rising number of expat experts

5,000 international professionals now work in the province 

East China's Shandong province could be an alluring destination for global expertise as the province makes a special effort to attract talent from around the world to help its economic and social development. 

More than 5,000 foreign experts from Israel, Australia, France and Germany now work in Shandong, providing guidance on fields including vegetable cultivation, breeding sea products and engineering. 

Jiang Daming, governor of Shandong, said the coming years will see Shandong introduce more foreign professionals to develop the Shandong Peninsula Economic Zone and the Yellow River Delta High-efficient Economic Zone. 

During the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), the Shandong government organized some 4,500 activities to help 3,000 enterprises and organizations seek foreign experts, according to Liu Jie, head of Shandong Foreign Expert Office. 

Last year alone, 4,024 technological problems were solved by 2,900 foreign experts, generating economic benefits valued at 1.52 billion yuan ($238 million), Liu said. 

The foreign experts also helped build relationships at the grassroots level in education, the media and medical care. 

In 2006, Linuo Paradigma, a Sino-German joint venture in the thermal solar market, hired Daniel Rubeck, a French expert on solar energy, as its chief technical officer. 

With his help, Linuo built a complete production chain for the solar products, making itself a heavyweight in the sector. 

Michel Humbert, who once worked at a Fortune 500 company, volunteered as a consultant to Yantai city government after he retired. 

Thanks to his efforts, Yantai has formed connections with nearly 1,000 overseas companies and intermediary organizations. 

Over the past few years, Humbert invited over 450 enterprises to investigate and consider Yantai, after which 30 foreign-funded projects settled in the city. 

Austrian Peter Poechmueller, who works as the chief technical officer at Shandong Sinochip Semiconductors Co Ltd, gave high praise to Shandong's economic environment, noting he is confident about his future in the province. 

By the end of last year, some150 foreign experts had been awarded the Qilu Friendship Prize, the most prestigious provincial government award for expats who have made a great contribution in Shandong. 

To better accommodate foreign talent, Shandong has built 145 demonstration operations using overseas professionals. 

The province also has cooperative relationships with more than 100 government organizations and academic institutions in 25 countries and regions.