BEIJING - The Beijing municipal government has relaxed the age limit for candidates applying to a scheme designed to recruit senior foreign experts to work in science and technology in China.

People applying for the "1,000 Foreign Experts" program can now be up to 65 years old, rather than the previous age limit of 55.

"We used to require that all applicants be under 55. Considering the reality of foreign experts, however, we have loosened the limit on age and extended that to 65 years old," an official with the Beijing Foreign Expert Bureau told Xinhua on Sunday.

Beijing's 1,000 Foreign Experts is part of the nation's Recruitment Program of Global Experts, initiated in 2008 to attract overseas experts in various industries to help boost the country's scientific and technical innovation. Notably excluding social science fields, it was so called because it bids to recruit 500 to 1,000 foreign experts within five to 10 years.

The official, who did not give his name, said the program is applicable to all non-Chinese foreign experts and is now focused on those who will be engaged in long-term work.

It requires the recruited experts to work in China for at least three consecutive years, and for no fewer than nine months each year.

The central government will provide a one-off subsidy of 1 million yuan ($159,000) for each expert.

Applicants must have obtained doctorates from overseas universities and meet other requirements verifying their leading credentials in their fields.