BEIJING - China will continue to carry out a program to recruit 500 to 1,000 high-caliber foreign experts over the next 10 years in key industries of economic and social development, the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) said Tuesday.

Under the government-funded program, each of the selected overseas professionals will be offered a subsidy of one million yuan ($158,373) to cover their living expenses, according to a statement issued by the SAFEA.

Another subsidy of 3 to 5 million yuan will be offered for scientific research, it said.

According to the statement, applicants should be under 65 and not Chinese. They are also required to work in China for three consecutive years, or 36 months, with no more than 3 months' leave each year.

Zhang Jianguo, general director of SAFEA, said the first group of foreign experts have been reviewed and 95 sub-programs have been approved to facilitate bringing high-caliber experts and creative teams to China from overseas.

"China will focus on the development of key industries to recruit foreign experts in order to promote China's development in technology as well as other emerging strategic industries," he said.