When 53-year-old former Dutch Cabinet minister Annette Nijs presented her well-prepared talent-hunting strategy on Thursday, she had a special listener in Shanghai.

Nijs, the ex-minister for education, science and culture who is pursuing a new career in China, delivered the advice to President Xi Jinping.

Now the executive director of the China Europe International Business School, Nijs was one of 50 foreign experts from 22 countries invited by Xi to a meeting on China's development and talent policy.