The China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone in Zhoushan [Photo/IC] 

Zhoushan's policy of making talent attraction a top priority in recent years has started to bear fruit, with this year's number of local students heading for colleges elsewhere being 3,726, while that of newly introduced undergraduates is expected to hit 10,000, about 1 percent of the city's total population. 

Based on the industrial characteristics of its China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), the local government has implemented a demand-oriented talent recruitment mechanism and engaged headhunters in introducing qualified talents needed for the development of Zhejiang FTZ. 

The city released 77 urgently-needed high-level vacant jobs earlier this year, and with the help of headhunters, received over 230 resumes a month later, 55 of which were qualified for a final interview. 

More than 300 high-profile talents have been introduced to the city since the Zhejiang FTZ was established in early 2017, and they mainly specialize in green petrochemical business, ocean-river intermodal transport, aviation and free trade, with 35 of them enjoying an annual salary of over 500,000 yuan ($72,000). 

In an attempt to better retain talents, the city released 21 incentive measures in late 2016 to subsidize high-profile talents and start-up teams, with the amount of subsidies being up to 30 million yuan. 

It also issued special policies last year to better serve overseas talents in terms of exit and entry, residence, child education, and other aspects of their life, and has issued residence permits valid for three to five years for 64 foreign workers in the city.