Beijing and Shanghai are geared up to recruit high-tech talent to help boost innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

Yangpu, the largest district of Shanghai, hosted a talent recruiting event on Sunday night at Stanford University, attracting around 300 participants. It's the first time representatives from the district have come to Silicon Valley looking for talent.

On Tuesday, it will host a similar event in Seattle, another hot spot of high-tech talent in the US.

Less than a week ago, Beijing announced 20 new measures to attract more foreign talent to the capital, especially to its high-tech hub Zhongguancun Science Park, which is known as China's Silicon Valley.

Both cities are touting their preferential policies and favorable environment as "the most innovation friendly".

"In Yangpu, we will let you feel the temperature of innovation and entrepreneurship when you open the window; in Yangpu, we will let you breathe the air of opportunity when you walk in the street," Li Yueqi, Party secretary of Yangpu district, told the participants at the event.

As the most densely populated district in central Shanghai, Yangpu has 20 science and technology parks and factories with a total space of more than 100 million square feet.

The district also is home to at least 10 famous Chinese universities, including Fudan, Tongji and the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, as well as more than 100 research institutes, according to a brochure presented at the event.

Li also introduced the district's "3310 Plan", under which qualified recruits are entitled to about $157.5 million in startup capital, free use of 2,150 square feet of office space, nearly $1 million in subsidized loans and seven other subsidies.

"Last year, more than 2,000 startups were registered in Yangpu, more than any other district of the city," said Li Yaping, deputy magistrate of the district. "We also provide follow-up service to those newly established, small-sized projects, such as housing and funding support."

Li said she had noticed a new trend among the high-tech expatriates in recent years. "More and more people choose to work in both countries - they base their research in the US and develop the products in China, and their children live in the US for education," said Li.

"It drives innovative and technological exchanges between the two countries," she added.

[email protected]