Hainan reaches out for talent at job fairs

An employment symposium is held on Jan 28 in Haikou, Hainan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Hainan province has been reaching out to recruit outstanding local talent since late January through a series of large job fairs — at least five in Haikou and Sanya this month.

On Tuesday, a job fair for small and medium-sized enterprises took place in Haikou, with more than 80 employers participating in the event and offering more than 1,300 positions.

Job fairs organized by governments have become an increasingly important platform for employers attracting young talent. More than 100 of this year's graduates from Hainan participated in an employment symposium on Jan 28. It was hosted by the Organization Department of the Haikou Committee of the Communist Party of China.

"Haikou held this event to extend warm welcome to those who consider returning and creating a better future for their hometown," a representative of the department said.

A talent matchmaking conference — "Returning to hometown and joining Hainan free trade port" — was hosted in Haikou by the Hainan Committee of the CPC and the Hainan People's Government on Jan 31 and Feb 6.

More than 700 employers participated in the recruitment effort online and offline, offering some 17,000 positions. The employers came from 18 cities and counties across the province and included State-owned, foreign-funded and private enterprises and public institutions covering areas such as education, finance, media, medical and pharmaceutical industries. Some positions came with annual salaries of more than 1.5 million yuan ($220,000).

"If the recruitment activities outside the province are about going out to grab talent, then this talent matchmaking meeting for students who come from Hainan is for retaining talent at the doorstep," said Chen Ming, head of the Organization Department of the Danzhou Committee of the CPC.

Sun Teng, a civil engineering graduate student from Tsinghua University, signed a contract with Haikou's State-owned Asset Management Co in January at the conference. He said he deeply felt the Hainan FTP's thirst for talent.

"I chose to come back to Hainan because I believe that it can provide young people with broader room for development," Sun said. "China has been promoting the Hainan FTP in recent years, and I hope that by returning to my hometown I can contribute to high-quality development."