Exactly 30 years ago, Deng Xiaoping, the leader who opened China's era of reform and opening-up, delivered a talk on employing foreign talent to accelerate domestic development. "In the matter of modernization we have neither experience nor technical know-how," he said, adding that China could recruit foreigners to "participate in key development projects and other construction projects" in the process.

For the past 30 years, measures have continually been taken to encourage more foreign experts to work in China, especially in the 1980s and early 1990s when the country was lagging far behind the developed world. Now China is the world's second-largest economy, the practice is still beneficial as it helps the nation better cope with global cooperation and competition.

Such recruitment of foreign experts benefits both sides. Especially today, with China's sound education and excellent research programs, the mutual benefit of its cooperation with foreign experts is more evident.