A view of the Lujiazui area in Shanghai. [Photo/VCG]

The fourth Shanghai Y50 Forum for Innovation and Entrepreneurship was held in Shanghai on May 20.

The forum was aimed at driving discussions regarding how Shanghai can become a hotbed for youth innovation and entrepreneurship.

Cao Yuanfeng, deputy director of the Organization Department of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Talent Office, said during the forum that the places where young people are willing to go to are talent highlands. He also noted that Shanghai has a good foundation and comprehensive advantages in building a high-level talent highland.

One of the key factors is that Shanghai is an international city. According to Cao, the population of overseas talents in Shanghai has been growing. A total of 394,000 work permits and 12,000 permanent residence permits have been issued to foreigners in Shanghai. And more than 270,000 people who have returned from studying abroad chose to work and start businesses in Shanghai. All these figures are the highest in the country.

Another key factor is the number of high-end talents in Shanghai. At present, there are 172 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering and 1,739 Shanghai Leading Talents in the city. Shanghai has also issued more than 75,000 Foreigner's Work Permits (Class A) for high-end talents, the most in the country.

The third factor is its institutionalization. In recent years, Shanghai has rolled out 35 talent support policies for Shanghai's five "new cities" – Nanhui, Songjiang, Jiading, Qingpu and Fengxian – and 12 policies for attracting talents to promote economic recovery and revitalization. The city is also a leader in terms of innovating talent systems and mechanisms through policies.

The fourth factor is marketization. Shanghai has been allowing the market to decide how to allocate talent.

Looking ahead, Shanghai will focus on turning itself into a city that is conducive for youth development and continue to optimize talent policies to help young people create innovations and start businesses in the city.

Cao said that Shanghai has in recent years been focused on improving the talent settlement policy to attract young talents. For example, local authorities have optimized the policies regarding direct settlement of international students, fresh college graduates and young talents.

"Scientific and technological innovation, industrial transformation and the development of new formats is inseparable from the creative vitality and hard work of young talents who have the courage to explore and dare to be the first. To achieve high-quality urban development, Shanghai must provide a bigger stage and stronger impetus for young talents to innovate and start businesses," Cao said.

Cao added that the city will take four steps to achieve these goals. The first is strengthening its talent planning system and ensuring that talent plan projects are catered towards young talents. Second, the city will promote career development platforms, rely on major scientific facilities to gather first-class talents and teams, build a talent chain around the industrial chain, and plan for the development of future industries. Third, the city will provide excellent innovation and entrepreneurship services, promote the high-quality construction and development of incubators, implement targeted support policies, and provide financial support such as "talent loans". Lastly, local authorities will hold global innovation and entrepreneurship competitions and summits.

Regarding the ways of retaining talents after attracting them to the city, Cao said that Shanghai will endeavor to create a high-quality talent ecology for young people to pursue dreams, as well as provide tailored services for high-level talents and housing security for young talents.

"In recent years, we have implemented a youth-friendly talent housing project and established a talent settlement system with the help of the city, districts, parks and employers, a combination of monetary subsidies and in-kind facilities, and hierarchical and categorical guarantees. In addition, it is necessary to rely on the optimization of the comprehensive urban environment to continuously inject vitality and guarantee for talent development and talent work," he said.

"We now live in an era that requires talents and creates talents, and under our feet is a glorious city that gathers and nurtures talents."