A resident of an apartment provided by the Wuhan government to accommodate talented people cleans his new home. MIAO JIAN/FOR CHINA DAILY

Candidates with the right educational qualifications can expect a package of inducements

HOU LIQIANG

Three cities map out their incentives as they vie to attract the people who will bring greater growth:

CHENGDU:

1. No threshold for graduates with a bachelor's or a higher degree to get hukou, or household registration.

2. Graduates with a bachelor's or a higher degree from non-local universities can live in "talent hotels" for seven days for free when seeking jobs.

3. About 300,000 "talent apartments" will be built in the following five years for urgently needed expertise. The successful candidates can buy the apartment at prices lower than the market after they rent for five years. The size of these apartments ranges from just under 60 square meters to no more than 120 sq m.

4. For those who graduated less than five years previously and started businesses in the city, the government will help them get a three-year interest-free loan of up to 500,000 yuan ($75,400).

5. Foreign students in China who come to the city to start businesses will be given residence permits for up to five years. Other foreign students who come to the city to work as interns can get visas for their internship.

WUHAN:

1. For students who graduated less than three years previously: No threshold to get hukou as long as they come to work or start their business in the city; eligible to apply for "talent apartments", rental of which is much lower than the market. The Wuhan government plans to build such apartments to accommodate 200,000 people in the following five years.

2. For students on campus or who have graduated no more than five years previously: The government will offer credit guarantees for them to apply for loan of up to 2 million yuan.

3. A special coupon will also be given as reward to buy or rent homes. The Wuhan government has not said how many such coupons will be issued or their face value, but said the coupon will be issued based on the number of graduates it attracts and the amount of tax they pay.

4. More than 3,000 practice bases will be built within five years and cash awards and subsidies will be given to interns in these bases by the end of each year based on the number and quality of the interns. 5. More than 50 entrepreneurship training colleges will be established and each of them will be given a subsidy of 100,000 yuan a year to offer entrepreneurship and innovation training for no less than 100,000 university students a year.

CHANGSHA:

1. No threshold for graduates with a bachelor's or higher degrees from regular university to get hukou.

2. Graduates with a doctorate, or master's degree will be given cash rewards of 15,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan respectively and 6,000 yuan for a bachelor's each year for the first two years after they get hukou and work in the city.

3. Graduates with a doctorate will be given a subsidy of 60,000 yuan to buy their first home in the city and graduates with a master's degree will be subsidized half of the money.

4. About 200 practice bases will be built to meet the need of graduates for internships and interns in the bases will be given subsidies, the amount not yet disclosed.

5. Those who start businesses in the city will be given various subsidies, including those for entrepreneurship training, startup capital and office renting, the specific amount not yet disclosed. One hundred startup projects will be chosen each year and rewarded up to 500,000 yuan. The award should be less than half of the project's investment.