China's first "talent park" sits on a beautiful coastal site in the southern city of Shenzhen.
The Shenzhen talent park, which opened to the public earlier this month, has photos and names of top innovators printed onto the pillars.
Two founders from Shenzhen-based BGI, China's top gene-sequencing provider, are among those recognized.
"It's like the stars of the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the names of celebrities. It's a novel way to recognize them and helps attract innovative talent here," said Zhu Yanmei, BGI chief human officer.
Neighboring Hong Kong, Shenzhen is a frontline city for China's opening and reform. This hotbed for both innovation and investment has drawn swarms of talent to start businesses or work in the city.
While new entrepreneurs innovate in emerging sectors, such as genomics, metamaterials and artificial intelligence, the city has also been creative in finding ways to draw high-end talent.
In August, the city legislature passed a regulation on talent work, declaring Nov. 1 as Shenzhen Talent Day.
The city also announced last month it will award a maximum of 100 million yuan (15 million U.S. dollars) to Nobel Prize winners who locate their laboratories in Shenzhen.
Five Nobel prize winners have set up laboratories in Shenzhen.
"The city is comfortable in both climate and its inclusiveness, making newcomers fall in love with the city easily," Zhu said.
She said BGI has over 1,000 R&D personnel in Shenzhen, which is high compared to its peer life science companies worldwide.
With highly qualified personnel flowing in and leading emerging industries, the value added in emerging sectors surged up 10.6 percent in 2016, accounting for 40 percent of the city's economic growth.
Last year, Shenzhen saw nearly 20,000 international patent applications filed under the PCT. There are 80 patents per 100,000 people, 10 times the national average.
At the ongoing China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF) in the city, an exhibition zone is reserved for early startups, offering opportunities to show off their ideas and woo investors.
Yang Lujian is busy introducing his drone dock design, a round table-like base for drone landing and automatic charging.
The auto engineering major and his two partners quit their jobs at an automaker in northeast China's Jilin Province and started his business in Shenzhen in 2015.
"As an innovation hub, Shenzhen has a complete industrial chain with industry clusters and convenient logistics, so we chose it," he said, adding that a group of drone makers, including DJI, the country's leading brand, is a main reason for their choice.
The report delivered to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China said the country will accelerate its efforts to become a nation of innovators.
More efforts will be made to cultivate a large number of world-class scientists and technologists in strategically important fields, scientific and technological leaders, and young scientists and engineers, as well as high-performing innovation teams, according to the report.
Facing rising housing prices, the Shenzhen city government is also coming up with new ways to encourage rental housing and to help lower living and business operating costs.
Last week, the city bid on the first piece of land designated for rental homes. The apartments to be built on it will not be allowed to be sold.
Banks are also encouraged to offer loans designed for home rentals.
At the CHTF on Thursday, a high-end job fair offered nearly 1,000 vacancies with annual packages of over 500,000 yuan or more than 300,000 yuan plus company shares.
Company presidents, operations directors, and senior engineers in cutting-edge sectors were among the job vacancies.
"I have never experienced such a high-end job fair before, neither as an HR worker nor as a job seeker," said Xu Jing, 36, from Jiangsu Province.
Xu, who has worked in HR for eight years, is looking for an HR and administration director position.
"I have decided to move to the city, as the young and passionate city makes me feel young," she said.
