The South China University of Technology (SCUT)

Four out of every 10 residents in Tianhe district have a bachelor’s degree, a proportion higher than that of any other district in Guangzhou city, according to the latest population census.

It is also one of the districts most favored by Guangzhou’s young people. Its population aged from 15 to 59 accounts for 79.83 of the district’s total, ranking next to Baiyun district.   

In recent years, Tianhe district set up several platforms to provide services to talents. It also rolled out a series of preferential policies to bring in talented people, such as financial support and help in getting a Guangzhou green card and applying for talent apartments.

Since 2017, the district has allocated over 224 million yuan ($35.02 million) to support resident enterprises to bring in and foster more than 1,500 high-end talents.

The latest policies make it clear that newly introduced talents who master international cutting-edge technologies can get a household allowance of up to 10 million yuan. Talents in the industries of finance, artificial intelligence and digital economy, as well as overseas talents, will get priority support.  

Last year, Tianhe lowered the requirement for applying for "green cards" for talented people. Since 2016, over 2,400 high-end talents have acquired the talent green card, accounting for over 40 percent of Guangzhou’s total.  

Thanks to the preferential policies, a large number of outstanding talents chose to live and work in Tianhe. By 2020, the district has over 250,000 professionals in various industries. This big group of talents has bolstered Tianhe’s economic development.

Last December, Tianhe district pledged to give out no less than 160 million yuan in each of the next three years to award talents. 2021 marks the first year of the motivation policy and key talent projects are invited to apply before June 20.

In addition to financial support, Tianhe provides supporting services for talents to set up their homes, find jobs and start businesses in the district. If they meet the conditions, talents can apply for Guangzhou household registration or a talent green card and apply for a talent apartment.

Qualified overseas talents can apply for residence permits of up to 5 years and enjoy preferential financial subsidies for individual income tax in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Moreover, Tianhe district provides person to person service for high-end talents to help them during the whole process of working and settling down.

According to the census, Tianhe residents numbered 2.24 million in 2020, accounting for 12 percent of the city's total, up about 0.72 percentage points from a decade ago.

During the same period, Guangzhou's population grew from 12.7 million to 18.68 million, an annual average growth rate of 3.93 percent.  

Tianhe district ranks third in the city in permanent residents and all of them are urban residents. Nearly 810,000 people were added to Tianhe’s population during the past ten years.

As for the educational level, the average schooling years of people aged over 15 in Guangzhou increased from 10.84 in 2010 to 11.61 last year. The number in Tianhe is 13.06 years－the longest among the city’s districts.