Talent serves as the primary resource driving high-quality development. Following last year's launch of the "Millions of Talents Converge in South Guangdong" action plan, which attracted over 1.1 million university graduates to work or start businesses in the province, Guangdong is intensifying its efforts this year. It has announced plans to recruit over a million more graduates, with various recruitment campaigns currently underway across the country. In recent years, united front work in Guangdong has focused on supporting this action plan. By establishing and utilizing platforms such as the "Western Returned Scholars Association's Study Abroad and Serve the Country Base," "Returnee Towns," and "Hong Kong and Macao Youth Homes," efforts have been made to promote Guangzhou's Zengcheng District, Shantou, and Jiangmen in creating demonstration parks for industrial and technological synergy within overseas Chinese communities, as well as clusters for returnee and high-end overseas talent. These initiatives vigorously guide overseas talent to visit, exchange, innovate, and start businesses in Guangdong.
On the new journey of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, facing a series of new problems and challenges in economic and social development, how can Guangdong better gather and utilize talent from around the world? Members of the broad united front are actively responding through the "I Offer One Strategy for Building a Strong Province" activity.
Improving the regional talent coordination development mechanism allows the "living water" of talent to precisely irrigate areas with urgent development needs. Imbalanced urban-rural and regional development is the most significant shortcoming for Guangdong's high-quality growth, with one of the most distinct manifestations being the uneven distribution of talent. Zhou Shubiao, a member of the Jiusan Society Shantou Municipal Committee and Deputy Director of the Research Center for Participation in and Deliberation of State Affairs under the Jiusan Society Guangdong Provincial Committee, pointed out that currently, the Pearl River Delta region in Guangdong concentrates the vast majority of the province's high-level scientific and technological talent. In contrast, the eastern, western, and northern regions of Guangdong face practical challenges such as insufficient talent attraction, irrational structure, and serious brain drain. He suggests further improving the coordinated development mechanism for sci-tech talent between the Pearl River Delta and the eastern, western, and northern regions of Guangdong. On one hand, a province-wide digital collaboration platform for sci-tech talent should be established, integrating talent information, technological needs, and project resources to better address enterprise pain points and difficulties through timely remote collaboration and precise matching. On the other hand, an "Eastern, Western, and Northern Guangdong Targeted Training Plan" should be implemented, establishing a full-chain training mechanism of "demand-training-employment-service" to encourage and guide university graduates to seek employment locally and contribute to their hometowns' development.
Guangdong possesses three major folk cultures: Cantonese, Teochew, and Hakka, with relatively rich intangible cultural heritage (ICH) resources. Wang Weihong, a standing committee member of the China Association for Promoting Democracy Guangdong Provincial Committee and Director/General Manager of Guangdong Publishing & Printing Materials Co., Ltd., found through research that 55 technical colleges across the province have integrated ICH projects such as Cantonese gold embroidery, Duan inkstone carving, and Cantonese culinary skills into relevant professional teaching, forming a certain foundation for talent cultivation. However, issues persist, including imbalanced resource allocation and regional development, a gap in teacher supply, and disconnection between heritage and industry. She recommends establishing a Lingnan ICH resource sharing platform to integrate ICH projects, inheritors, and teaching resources across the province, achieving regional resource complementarity. Simultaneously, promoting ICH vocational skill level certification, incorporating skills like Cantonese embroidery and ceramics into the vocational skill evaluation system, can help ICH skilled talents gain greater social recognition and further open up career development space.
Lin Xiuquan, a member of the Jiusan Society Shanwei City Grassroots Committee and Vice President of the Shanwei Computer Society, discovered through research targeting four cities in eastern Guangdong that many county-level small and medium-sized enterprises commonly face a crisis of being unable to attract or retain high-end technical talent, leading to a断层 (fault line). Even when local university experts are willing to serve the locality, factors such as staffing quotas, family, and geography make it difficult for them to take root in the counties long-term. Lin Xiuquan suggests learning from the experiences of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and relevant regions within the province that have piloted the "Technology Vice President" mechanism. He proposes establishing a flexible talent introduction mechanism for "migratory bird" type technology vice presidents. This mechanism would focus on guiding university teachers to serve as "technology vice presidents" in county-level enterprises, encouraging them to jointly establish laboratories or engineering technology centers with enterprises, cultivating a group of local engineers and technical backbones, achieving a chain effect of "introducing one person, bringing a team, and elevating an enterprise."
Formulating and improving industrial talent catalogs breaks down barriers between talent introduction/cultivation and industrial needs. The key to truly attracting and cultivating talent lies in finding the right direction, breaking down the barriers between talent introduction/cultivation and industrial demand, and achieving precise matching. Wu Chuanbao, a committee member of the University Branch of the China Democratic League Dongguan Municipal Committee and a professor at the Innovation and Entrepreneurship School of Guangdong University of Science and Technology, believes that the rapidly developing artificial intelligence technology is not only reshaping traditional industry ecosystems but also posing new requirements for talent knowledge structures, competency dimensions, and cultivation models. He suggests establishing a dynamically updated digital-intelligence course library, accelerating the creation of online virtual simulation training platforms, offline intelligent hardware maker spaces, and integrated virtual-physical training grounds. Implementing online-offline blended teaching, while designing instruction around enterprise needs—transforming teaching modules into project topics and designing personalized cultivation paths based on learning analysis—can make teaching better suited to industrial realities.
Xu Yonghui, a non-partisan personage in Foshan City and a member of the City's Intellectuals Association, noted that with the growth of emerging industries like e-commerce livestreaming, artificial intelligence, and data services, the talent scale in related fields is expanding rapidly, yet a corresponding talent evaluation system is lacking. He recommends accelerating the promotion of an evaluation mechanism guided by innovation capability, quality, effectiveness, and contribution. Flexibly recognizing platform backend data, cooperation agreements, tax payment certificates, etc., as proof of talent engagement and income can break down institutional barriers in identity verification.
Xu Jian, a non-partisan personage in Zhanjiang City and an associate professor at the School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Guangdong Ocean University, believes that Guangdong has the seeds for leading talents; the key lies in whether they can be discovered and supported through technological accumulation and tackling real challenges, providing projects, platforms, and a supportive service environment. He stated that currently, the growth channels for mid-level backbone talents in Guangdong are not smooth, and engineering contributions fail to enter the evaluation, service, and growth support systems as projects progress. He suggests establishing an industrial chain talent "project performance registration" evaluation mechanism, transforming project contributions into recordable, verifiable, and credible evidence to better evaluate, serve, guarantee, and support talent growth.
The market is a force that cannot be overlooked in talent recruitment and attraction work. Zou Xiubin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Jiangmen Intellectuals Association and General Manager of Jiangmen Qianli Liangju Human Resources Service Co., Ltd., recommends piloting a market-based talent recommendation mechanism. Targeting high-end R&D, core technology, and senior management talent gaps in Guangdong's key industrial chains, an industrial talent introduction and cultivation catalog should be formulated. Professional headhunting agencies can be commissioned to conduct global targeted recruitment, while involving headhunters, leading enterprises, and industry associations in talent evaluation. This would further bridge the linkage channel between government-led and market-led talent introduction, better achieving precise matching of talent demand and resources.
[More "Golden Ideas" are as follows:] Guo Xiquan, Director of the Qingyuan Intellectuals Association and Head of the Planning and Quality Management Department at Qingyuan Polytechnic: The Guangdong Vocational Education City located in Qingyuan has currently gathered 11 institutions with over 130,000 students, cultivating nearly 40,000 technical and skilled talents annually. It is suggested to use the Vocational Education City as a link to promote the mutual sharing of educational and talent resources between Guangzhou and Qingyuan. Focusing on industries such as modern agriculture, intelligent manufacturing, new materials, as well as Guangzhou-Qingyuan textile and apparel, and new energy vehicles, cross-regional industrial talent cultivation should be coordinated.
Li Banghai, a member of the Jiusan Society Huizhou City Direct Branch 2 and a teacher at Huizhou Technician College, suggests exploring a "dual-appointment talent sharing, cross-city project transformation" industry-academia-research collaboration mechanism. Pilots should be determined in both the Pearl River Delta and the eastern, western, and northern regions of Guangdong to establish new R&D institutions. A flexible employment model of "staffing at universities, work on platforms, entrepreneurship in enterprises" should be implemented. Simultaneously, promoting a collaborative model of "R&D in the Pearl River Delta, transformation in small and medium-sized cities," allowing scientific research talent to use research funds across regions and share in the benefits of achievement transformation, can help clear bottlenecks from innovation outcomes to industrial implementation.
Huang Fenmei, Vice President of the Heyuan New Social Stratum Association: It is recommended to establish an information database for outstanding talents from the new social strata, focusing on absorbing talent in fields such as the digital economy, new media, professional services, and high-end manufacturing. Implement "one-on-one" follow-up services, providing convenience in household registration, housing, children's education, and medical security to enhance a sense of belonging. Meanwhile, relying on carriers like the "New Social Stratum Association" and "Youth Maker Spaces," organize exchange salons, project roadshows, and skill competitions to provide a stage for young talent to showcase themselves and achieve better personal development.
Peng Ling, a committee member of the Jiusan Society Huizhou University Branch 2 and a lecturer in Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering at Huizhou University: Currently, the disconnection between talent cultivation in Guangdong's applied undergraduate universities and industrial demand is prominent, especially as university teachers generally lack industrial experience. It is suggested to establish positions in both directions. Set up "Industry Professor" or "Enterprise Visiting Engineer" positions in enterprises, encouraging young and backbone university teachers to hold concurrent positions in enterprises. During this period, their personnel relationships and basic benefits should be retained, with enterprises providing practice funds and performance rewards. Achievements made by teachers in technical攻关 (tackling key problems) and product R&D during this time should serve as a basis for professional title evaluation and promotion. Establish "Enterprise Mentor" positions in universities, selecting technical backbones or project supervisors from "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" enterprises and manufacturing单项冠军 (single champion) enterprises to serve as part-time mentors, participating in course design, experimental guidance, graduation projects, etc., with their workload incorporated into enterprise performance assessments.