Qingdao considers high-caliber human resources the key to accelerating the development of its financial market, which mainly focuses on wealth management.

The city has implemented many initiatives in recent years and has issued several guidelines to strengthen its appeal to financial experts.

An official at the city's financial affairs office said the next move is to draft supportive policies and more detailed implementation measures to improve the feasibility and operability of these government initiatives.

The Qingdao government expects to attract about 50 top financial professionals in the next five years. They will receive monetary rewards and enjoy a one-stop service in terms of housing, children's education, medical treatment and entering and exiting the country, according to the local government.

The city also expects to have more than 100,000 people working in its financial industry by 2020.

To help achieve the goal, Qingdao Wealth Management Institute, built by the Qingdao city government and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, will establish a Qingdao-oriented postgraduate enrollment program in 2017.

The initiative involves all postgraduate students enrolling through the program agreeing to live and work in Qingdao after graduation.

"We will invite many human resources managers and experts from local financial institutes and companies to serve as career mentors for the students, in a bid to help them to find jobs before graduation," said Jiang Hui, executive dean of the Qingdao institute.

The institute also signed an agreement with the University of California Berkeley's Haas School of Business in August to establish an international training center for financial professionals in Qingdao.

In 2014, Qingdao gained approval from the central government to set up a wealth management pilot zone, which has helped the city to get closer to the goal of becoming a regional wealth management center.

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(China Daily 12/31/2016 page12)