Facilities in place to attract best scientific minds and make province's capital an international research powerhouse

Editor's Note: As the People's Republic of China prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary on Oct 1, China Daily is featuring a series of stories on the role regions have played in the country's development and where they are today.

If people ask which Chinese cities are the most attractive to foreigners, the results of an annual poll by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs offer some valuable insights.

The administration started releasing the poll results last year after surveying thousands of expatriates living in China over several months. The three cities to top the list in the last two surveys were Shanghai, Beijing and Hefei, the capital of Anhui province.

"Many people may ask, why Hefei?" said Yang Fan, a spokesman of the University of Science and Technology of China, one of the country's top universities and based in Hefei.

While acknowledging that Hefei is not as well-known internationally as the two first-tier cities, Yang said the result was not unexpected. "Our university alone received more than 1,600 visiting foreign experts last year."

It's no coincidence then, that the central government plans to make Shanghai, Beijing and Hefei national science centers. Planning documents show Hefei will focus on information technology, new energy sources, life sciences and environmental protection. Scientists based in Hefei will also aim for research breakthroughs in quantum communications, nuclear fusion, smog prevention and cancer treatments.

The city is already home to several major scientific projects, including the Steady High Magnetic Field Facility and the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, which is key to a nuclear fusion reactor. The EAST program is key to both the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor project and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project.