More than 20 visitors from renowned universities and research institutions worldwide gathered in Beijing on Sunday for the 14th Beijing Tour for Overseas Talents, a four-day event aimed at fostering exchanges between international professionals and the city's government agencies, entrepreneurial parks and employers.

Organized by the Beijing Overseas Talents Center since 2010, the tour is part of the capital's broader effort to attract global talent and bolster its status as a high-level innovation hub, the center said.

During the tour, participants will visit key technology sites, including a software park, an environmental protection science and technology demonstration park, and a science city planning exhibition hall in Zhongguancun, Haidian district.

Zhongguancun, home to nearly 9,000 high-tech firms such as Lenovo, ByteDance and Didi, is often referred to as China's Silicon Valley.

Attendees will also tour high-tech companies, including the Huawei Beijing research center, Li Auto and iFlytek, along with an innovation center and an industrial park focused on emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and new energy.

According to the Beijing Overseas Talents Center, this year's participants include representatives of overseas student unions from Germany, France, Canada and Spain, as well as experts in artificial intelligence. The tour features job fairs and policy briefings on talent recruitment, allowing face-to-face interactions between overseas professionals and potential employers.

Zhang Junhao, a fourth-year doctoral student specializing in AI at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said he hopes to gain firsthand insight into the needs of companies, government agencies and investors in Beijing.

"The policies are very supportive in Beijing. Entrepreneurship parks offer tax breaks to international students who return to start businesses. Additionally, Beijing is a hub for key resources from the government, companies and investors," Zhang said.

"As an overseas student, I want to promote technological exchanges between China and the world and contribute to my country's technological development," he added.

Liu Chaohui, who holds a doctorate in electronic and electrical engineering from the University of Sheffield in the UK and is chief engineer at the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center, participated in the 2019 Beijing Tour for Overseas Talents.

"The tour gave me a thorough understanding of Beijing's talent policies, key industries and the current and future landscape of industrial development," Liu said. "The experience directly influenced my decision to start my innovation career in Beijing upon returning home."

[email protected]