Universities in Shanxi province are being allowed to establish special posts to attract distinguished visiting professors from abroad, the province's education department told China Daily.

The posts are meant for foreign academics who are conducting advanced research in their respective fields and who can give advice on the industrial integration of the province.

The foreign academics, once appointed and given a five-year contract, will enjoy an annual allowance of 400,000 yuan ($63,080). To those who decide to live in Shanxi, the provincial government will also grant a one-time relocation subsidy of 2 million yuan ($315,400) and research fees amounting to 5 million yuan.

On Aug 27, the provincial education department announced the first 15 candidates who will be put up for public deliberation. Four universities in the province, including Shanxi University and Taiyuan University of Technology, proposed the candidates list.

According to Li Dongfu, head of the department, all of the distinguished visiting professors will be openly recruited. The campaign's goal is to improve the quality of the province's higher-education system and cultivate academics and innovative scholars.

Shanxi started the plan in November last year. It plans to attract 60 academics in about ten years.