7,600 job vacancies offered at intl. talent conference

People taste delicacies at the booth of Shekou International Block during the 21st Conference on International Exchange of Professionals at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center in Futian District. The two-day event ended yesterday. Sun Yuchen

More than 7,600 job openings were provided by 325 employers for talents from home and abroad at the 21st Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP), which was closed at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center in Futian District yesterday.

The State-level conference for international technological innovation and talent exchanges also gathered 948 institutions and organizations from 28 countries and regions, as well as nearly 1,000 domestic and foreign government representatives, experts and high-end talents. Themed “Promoting Scientific and Technological Innovation, Seeking Common Development, Benefiting Global Talents,” the two-day event received 53,000 visitors, according to the organizers.

The event covered an area of 63,000 square meters, featuring forums, exhibitions, exchanges, and talent recruitment.

Zhang Guangjun, vice minister of science and technology, said at the opening ceremony Saturday that China will continue to expand extensive and in-depth cooperation, exchanges and mutual learning with other countries.

According to Zhang, China rose to 11th on the Global Innovation Index 2022. As an innovation-driven country, China will actively integrate into the global innovation network and promote sci-tech exchanges and cooperation on a larger scale, in wider fields and at a higher level.

A section for exhibition and promotion of professional organizations from overseas was set up at Hall 1.

The Zagreb Innovation Center, a startup incubator from Croatia, attended the CIEP for the first time this year and presented its Startup Europe Regatta, an event that gathers many startups, innovators, businesses and investors.

“We support new businesses in Croatia as well as technology transfer and each smart idea from young people who would like to establish a sustainable company,” Frane Šesnić, CEO of the center, told Shenzhen Daily.

Maher Qaddoura from Canada, who had heard about the CIEP from one of his friends, came to Shenzhen from Hainan Province. “I came here with the hope of looking for a teaching job. I didn’t expect this conference was this big,” Qaddoura said, adding that it might take him a whole Sunday to explore.

Qaddoura, who holds a Ph.D. in chemistry, said he was looking forward to landing a teaching job in one of Shenzhen’s international schools or universities.

This year’s CIEP had prepared three job fairs specifically for expats, overseas returnees and high-end talents. Another job fair hosted by zhaopin.com, a Chinese online recruitment services provider, was open to job hunters from home and abroad with over 1,000 job openings.

The job fair for high-end talents gathered many research institutes, State-owned enterprises, public institutions and Fortune Global 500 companies, which offered upwards of 3,000 positions with an annual salary of over 200,000 yuan (US$29,106). Most of the job openings were senior R&D, management and technical positions.

The fair customized for overseas returnees invited over 70 enterprises including Tencent, BYD, Foxconn, Walmart and Decathlon. Many job vacancies were from popular industries such as finance, internet, education, manufacturing and fast-moving consumer goods.

Muhammad Tahir Rasheed and Hufsa Khan from Pakistan are doctoral students nearing graduation at Shenzhen University. Both of them major in computer science and technology.

“I’m working on low-light image enhancement using deep learning. My priority is a full-time teaching job, so I can focus on my research,” Rasheed told Shenzhen Daily on Saturday. The Pakistani had brought 15 resumes to the job fair and handed out 10 to different universities and companies by the time he was interviewed.

Khan was interested in either a teaching job in a university or a research job at a company. According to her, the job fair was well organized and very useful for jobseekers, who were given the opportunity to meet multiple universities, companies and even the people at one place at a time.

“For me, it’s very interesting and useful as compared to finding on the internet,” Khan said.

“I’m looking for positions at universities or new energy companies. My research field is related to lithium-ion battery,” said an overseas returnee surnamed Zhou, who had finished his postdoctoral study at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

According to Zhou, he had obtained some offers and was considering them. “This is the first job fair I’ve attended so far. I feel that it has given me a lot of information and understanding of the current employment situation.”

Tang Anli, secretary general of the Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Returnees Association, said this job fair had attracted many overseas returnees to seek employment. “For them, such an event can help them better understand domestic employment information and make their career plans after returning to the mainland.”