Attracting experts in the scientific and technological fields is vital for the progress of societies. The development of the US, Canada, Australia and other European countries was based on bringing skilled people and scientists from all over the world.
China has recently announced the issuance of a long-term visa in an attempt to attract talented people to work for its benefit. This visa type allows people to stay and work in China for five to ten years.
The Chinese authority has identified technology leaders, entrepreneurs and scientists as being eligible for the new visa. China has stressed that importing skilful experts will contribute to achieve the ambitious goals set by the Chinese government.
China has learned from the US. The US’ scientists have won over 330 Nobel Prizes in medicine, science, economics and literature. One-third of these geniuses were born outside the United States, while the rest were the first or the second generation of immigrants to the country.
Statistics say that about 25% of the scientists in the United States were born outside the country and that more than half of those came from China and India. Ethnic diversity is the foundation of the United States’ pioneering experience in science and technology.
China has identified what it needs and how to achieve its goals. It has decided to bring about 50,000 experts in various fields through new facilities in the visa system. The Chinese authority has even provided the opportunity to quickly obtain a visa online.
China is aware of the fierce competition among major powers like the US, India, Russia, South Korea, Japan. The Chinese government counts on importing professional and skillful people from around the world in order to excel in various spheres.
The idea of global citizenship is increasingly growing. Young people think of themselves as global citizens and not local citizens. A BBC’s survey, in 2016, stated that the idea of global citizenship has got widespread in developing countries. The poll included more than 20,000 people in 18 countries. 56 percent of respondents from countries with emerging markets perceive themselves as global citizens. The poll showed the following percentage of population seeing themselves as global citizens in different countries: 73 percent in Nigeria, 71 percent in China, 70 percent in Peru, and 67 percent in India.
The results were totally different in developed countries. In Germany, for example, only 30 percent of respondents see themselves as global citizens.
It might seem to be a matter of identity, social and economic development in different countries. But the struggle for skillful and outstanding human resources is one of the most important features of competitiveness in the twenty-first century.
