CCG report full text and excerpt: Global Talent Mobility and Governance
CCG, the Alliance of Global Talent Organization (AGTO), and Yingzhong Overseas Consulting advocate for more inclusive visa and talent policies in joint talent investigation and analysis.
Shortly before Donald Trump made a surprising promise on the All-In podcast, that any college graduate, including those from two-year junior colleges, should automatically receive a green card as part of their diploma, the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), the Alliance of Global Talent Organization (AGTO), and Yingzhong Overseas Consulting released the "Global Talent Mobility and Governance Report: Analysis with the United States as a Hub."
The report begins with an overview of "The Global Landscape of Talent Mobility," analyzes the "Characteristics of International Talent Mobility with the United States as a Hub," and concludes with recommendations for China regarding international talent mobility and governance.
The full report is available in both English and Chinese, with an excerpt provided below.
Trend of American Policies on Governance on the Flow of International Talents
(I) Attach long-term and great importance to the cultivation and introduction of talents in STEM disciplines upon cooperation among several authorities
The United States has been paying much attention to the cultivation of talents in core disciplines in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The Undergraduate Education in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering issued by National Science and Technology Council in 1986 proposed the integration of “education in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology”, which marked the beginning of the construction of STEM discipline education system in the United States. In 2007, the United States Congress officially approved the National Action Plan, which specifically stipulated special funds on STEM discipline education and led to the incoming of the comprehensive development of STEM discipline education. In 2015, the Obama Administration issued the STEM Education Act, which officially included computer science in the STEM discipline to ensure the international competitiveness of the United States in artificial intelligence, quantum information, advanced communication, and other cutting-edge innovation fields. The Biden Administration has made comprehensive enhancement on the STEM talent competition and signed administrative orders to instruct the Department of State, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, and other authorities to issue multiple policies including Early Career STEM Research Initiative, STEM Discipline Update, O-1 Guidance, and Guidance on National Interest Waiver Immigration.
There is no doubt that the United States has outstanding performance in the cultivation and introduction of international talents in STEM fields. According to the latest report of the American Immigration Commission, a non-profit organization, which was issued in June 2022, as of 2019, the amount of foreign skilled immigrants accounted for 23.1% of the total amount of STEM workers in the United States, having significantly increased compared with the data in 2000, specifically 16.4%. Those with a master’s degree and doctor’s degrees accounted for 49.3% of total skilled immigrants in four categories, far beyond the data in local Americans with these degrees, 21.8%. Similarly, there were 1.075 million international students in the United States in the academic year of 2019-2020 and those majored in STEM accounted for 52%. Other data indicates that, in 2020, 46% of 34,000 students with a doctor’s degree in the science or engineering field issued by American education institutions were foreign students with temporary visas. One study of the World Bank Development Research Group shows that when the number of foreign postgraduates increases by 10%, the number of patent applications, university patent authorization, and non-university patent authorization in the United States will increase by 4.5%, 6.8%, and 5.0%, respectively. Thus, it can be seen that international talents in STEM fields have played an important role in the innovation and patent output of the United States.
In recent years, the Biden Administration has continuously increased fund investment in STEM talents. In the fiscal years of 2021 and 2022, total investment by the U.S. government in STEM education, which was up to USD3.922 billion and USD4.228 billion, respectively, showed significant growth compared with USD3.504 billion in the fiscal year of 2020. At the same time, the Federal Government has continually strengthened its support for major scientific research institutions. For instance, according to the “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022” of the United States Congress (Public Law 117-103), the appropriation of USD8.8 billion was provided to the U.S. National Science Foundation, showing an increase of USD351.2 million, or 4.1%, above the FY 2021 appropriation. In the meantime, according to the “Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023” (Public Law 117-328), the appropriation of USD9.54 billion was provided to the U.S. National Science Foundation, an increase of USD701 million, or 7.9%, above the FY 2022 appropriation. And in the same year, the National Institutes of Health has created the highest rate of project funding in recent ten years, up to 30%.
(II) Continuously expand the STEM discipline fields and the introduction of international talents
In January 2022, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Department of Homeland Security officially issued the policy - Update to the STEM Designated Degree Program List, in which 22 new STEM disciplines, covering multiple disciplines of emerging technology and interdisciplinary disciplines, such as bioenergy, forestry, forest resource production and management, cloud computing, earth system science, climate science, data science, industrial and organizational psychology, and computational social science, were added. Accordingly, more students could enjoy preferential policies in STEM fields and the introduction of international talents could be greatly expanded.(II) Reform the visa policy and lower the threshold for STEM talents to go to and stay in the United States
In recent years, the United States is steadily promoting the reform on the visa policy and lowering the threshold of visa approval. The duration of J-1 visa for academic communication has increased from 18 months to 36 months to share the pressure from considerable applicants of H-1B visa and accordingly provide alternative visa plans for STEM talents, making it more convenient for STEM talents to stay in the United States and seek employment. In the Guidance on O-1 Extraordinary Ability Visa issued by the USCIS, the standard to measure extraordinary talents in STEM fields has relaxed; to be specific, such two aspects as advanced degree and exceptional ability are considered for talent introduction; the Guidance on National Interest Waiver Immigration has been further improved and it is the first time that medical doctors in STEM disciplines are allowed to directly apply for the green card through the National Interest Waiver Program and are exempted from the 7% limitation of Diversity Visa Lottery, which has greatly shortened the application cycle of green card; previous review rules of O-1A visa which were limited to outstanding talents in science, business, education, and sports, become flexible, making them more applicable to special talents with “extraordinary ability” in STEM fields; the new “W” nonimmigrant visa for highly skilled talents of scientific and technological enterprises is set to provide great convenience for business talents in the science and technology field to develop business and stay in the United States.
(IV) Actively promote communication and cooperation among international talents in STEM fields
In terms of communication and cooperation among international talents, the US-EU Trade and Technology Committee was established in June 2021 for coordination and cooperation between American and European experts in key fields. In May 2022, the United States and Japan implemented the Competitiveness and Resilience Partnership program and established a wireless network training institute in southeast Asian countries to train hi-tech talents for development of the program. In addition, on the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue Summit by and among the United States, Japan, India, and Australia, the Quadrilateral Scholarship was set to fund 100 students each year for completing the study of the master’s degree in STEM fields in the United States to further accelerate the interaction and cultivation of global scientific and technological talents.
Recommendations related to optimizing the governance of China's international mobility of talent
1. Explore ways to establish and improve a skilled migration system
The National Medium- and Long-Term Plan for Human Resource Development (2010-2020) proposes to increase the introduction of foreign intelligence and to explore the implementation of skilled migration. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC and the State have attached great importance to the introduction of overseas talents; the level of services for the management of foreign talent projects has been continuously improved; the legal environment for the introduction of foreign talents has been continuously optimized; and significant progress has been made in reforming the foreign talent management system. In June 2016, China joined the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and officially became one of its member states. This is an inevitable choice for China to deepen its participation in global governance and international cooperation on migration. In March 2018, the National People's Congress (NPC) passed the State Council Institutional Reform Program and formally established the National Immigration Administration, marking the formal entry of China's immigration governance into a systematic development process. With the establishment of the National Immigration Administration and the continuous advancement of its governance practice, China's immigration governance has entered a systematic and professional development track, and international immigration governance has become an important starting point for China to deeply participate in global governance and enhance its international influence. At the same time, the state and local governments are actively learning from international experience and exploring ways to attract overseas talents through the skilled immigration system. In February 2019, the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area proposed that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area should be early and pilot implementations in areas such as skilled migration and put forward initiatives on skilled migration such as the "List System for Shortage of Talents" and the "Criteria for Recognizing Foreign High-level Talents". In August 2020, the General Plan of China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone proposed to "pilot a quota management system for foreign talents". In 2021, the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for Economic and Social Development and Long-Range Objectives through the Year 2035 proposed to “explore ways to establish skilled migration system”. At the same year, Shenzhen’s Outline of 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for Economic and Social Development and Long-Range Objectives through the Year 2035 proposed to “implement a more open and convenient system for the introduction and exit and entry administration of overseas talents, and explore the implementation of a skilled migration policies”. In that year, the Guangzhou Science and Technology Innovation Regulations came into force, and its Article 24 made it clear that "the Municipal People's Government shall promote the construction of internationalized special zones for talents, and carry out the pilot project of skilled immigration", which is the first time that skilled immigration entered the local laws and regulations. Under the dual background of promoting economic globalization and opening up to the outside world at a high level, the system of skilled immigration has become an important measure to "gather the world's talents and make use of them" and deepen the reform of the system and mechanism of talent development in the new period, and it is also an important direction for the future development of China's international migration governance.
To accelerate the construction of a world leader in science and technology and realize the strategic goal of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self- improvement, we need to "gather the world's talents and make use of them". China should increase the opening-up of its talents to the outside world and establish a sound and internationally competitive skilled immigration system in order to enhance the attraction and cohesion of the world's talents. To explore the skilled immigration system, we should learn from the successful experience of the United States and other developed countries, give full play to the pillar role of the skilled immigration system in the introduction of foreign talents, embed the immigration system into the national strategies of opening up to the outside world at a high level, strengthening the country with talents, and coping with the aging of the population, so as to reshape the system of foreign talents in China.
To establish the skilled immigration system, the pace of the rule of law and digitization of skilled migration should be accelerated to achieve a series of important shifts, including: intelligent upgrading of the means of governance of skilled migration, and the further promotion of greater convenience and security in the areas of identification and document processing, customs clearance and government services; shifting the skills of foreign talents from subjective assessment to objective assessment; shifting the application for entry and exit and immigration documents of foreign talents from employers to skills; shifting the application for foreign talents from government-orientation to market- orientation; shifting the status of foreign talents from that of foreigners to that of Chinese nationals; shifting the introduction of foreign talents from piecemeal introduction to systematic introduction; shifting the prevention of immigration risks from a single subject to multiple subjects; shifting the management of immigration from centralized management to both centralized and localized management and from principled management to precision management.
2. Improve the whole-chain Management System for International Students
The strategy of attracting international students and retaining outstanding graduates is often referred to as a "profitable" approach for bringing in international talent. International students are more familiar with the country than directly imported foreign talents. Additionally, international students save on education costs relative to local talents. Even if these international talents are not ultimately retained by the country, they still contribute to educational foreign exchange earnings as they must leave upon visa expiration. Consequently, many countries view international students as a crucial means to enrich their talent pool, providing conditional scholarships and facilitating visas and immigration. Developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan have recognized the importance of attracting international students to gather talents and have adjusted their policies accordingly to recruit international students.
In recent years, the level of higher education in China continues to rise, as does the scale of international students coming to China, making the country a significant destination for international education. Going forward, it is imperative to enhance efforts to promote the role of international study in attracting and utilizing foreign talent. This could involve: First is to abandon the passive mindset of "sitting, waiting, and relying on others to take the initiative" and to adopt more proactive admission strategies. Second, establish a comprehensive evaluation system covering the whole process from admission to employment for international students and adjust admission and cultivation strategies based on the evaluation results. Third, grant higher education institutions a certain degree of autonomy in determining tuition fees for international students, motivate them to improve the quality of education and set up internationalized interdisciplinary courses. Fourth, introduce more flexible and clear policies for international students' internships, employment, and entrepreneurship. This includes exploring the granting of internship visas to outstanding STEM students and talent visas to excellent STEM graduates, and establishing a policy coordination mechanism to leverage the role of international students, creating a seamless loop for selecting global talent suitable for China's development from among outstanding international students.
3. Foster a more inclusive vision of governance
The cross-border flow of talents has introduced diversified elements into the economic and social development of countries around the world, implanted strong innovation momentum for scientific and technological progress, and prompted countries to compete for outstanding immigrant talents and international students. In the new stage of globalization, further promoting the flow of talents, especially the continuous exchanges of immigrant talents and international students, is of great significance in reducing misunderstandings, promoting people-to-people exchanges, expanding cooperation and consensus, and promoting high-quality development.
As China continues to deepen its high-level opening-up to the outside world and enjoys rapid economic and social growth, the flow of people between China and the rest of the world is getting closer and closer, and China is undergoing a transformation from being a single source of migrants to playing multiple roles as a source, transit and destination country. This makes the governance of international migration an important issue for China's participation in global governance. As the world's largest developing country, China has always been the focus of international and domestic attention with regard to the introduction of international talent, especially international migrants. However, China's migration management system is still in the development stage, and the public's understanding of the concept of migration is often ambiguous, and this cognitive bias has led to a deviation in the social understanding of the migration issue, which has indirectly inhibited China's pace of attracting international talents through the skilled migration system. In view of this, there is an urgent need to strengthen the social popularization of the concept of immigration and positive public opinion orientation, to encourage an open and tolerant, fair and just mindset in examining the issue of immigration, and to fully recognize the role of immigrants as a bridge to promote the economic prosperity, social progress and cultural exchanges of all countries, so as to create a positive and friendly social atmosphere for the healthy development of China's immigration governance system.
4. Strengthen exchanges and cooperation with international organizations
Talent mobility is a complex phenomenon that transcends national, sectoral and individual boundaries, and its governance is relatively complicated, requiring the strengthening of international cooperation and the active promotion of cooperation and exchanges with international organizations. First, high-level migration dialogues and exchanges should be promoted in order to accelerate the synergistic development of international skilled migration governance. The role of global platforms such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Organization for Economic Development Cooperation (OEDC) should be brought into full play to deepen dialogue and cooperation with neighboring countries and the world's major countries on migration governance and migrant integration strategies, and to participate in the construction of a new international migration order and propose solutions with Chinese characteristics. Second, deepen cooperation with international professional organizations in the fields of skilled migration and talent mobility, and expand the breadth and depth of cooperation. In particular, in the areas of academic accreditation, vocational qualifications and skills assessment, international professional resources should be utilized to enhance the influence in the setting of norms for the international flow of talent. Thirdly, continue to organize the Global Talent Mobility and Governance Forum, establish a global cooperation and dialogue mechanism, and build bridges for international talent exchanges. This will promote an atmosphere of common consultation and sharing, facilitate the formation of a global consensus on talent development and exchange, enhance the fairness, synergy and inclusiveness of talent mobility, and lay a solid foundation for harmonious interaction and win-win situations for global talent.
5. Encourage social forces to participate in the co-governance of immigration
With the continuous growth of international migrants in China, the task of social governance has become increasingly complex, and it is obviously not possible to rely on government departments alone to carry out immigration management and services. Therefore, it is particularly critical to build a diversified governance system led by the government and united with relevant stakeholders of immigration (including immigration intermediary agencies, grassroots communities, international medical service system, international educational institutions, etc.) to promote the transformation of immigration governance to a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary, deep-level and professional direction. For example, Shanghai has set a precedent by setting up the first one-stop service centre for permanent residence affairs, which integrates multiple immigration management and service departments such as human resources, foreign expert affairs, overseas Chinese affairs, taxation, entry-exit inspection and quarantine, and notarization, and sets up a comprehensive service window to provide one-stop government consultation services. At the same time, the service centre also works with social service agencies as an auxiliary service port to provide multi-faceted professional consultation and services for resident foreigners, such as language training, medical treatment, schooling, rental, car purchase, and legal aid, to further enhance the convenience and professionalism of services.
At the same time, we should give full play to the role of grass-roots social organizations and institutions, open up channels for international migrants to participate in community governance, so as to enhance their sense of belonging and social participation, and promote the integration of immigrants into society. Yiwu's “ management of foreigners by foreigners ” model is a courageous attempt to help foreigners quickly integrate into local life by hiring foreign mediators to resolve foreign-related disputes, bringing in professional social workers in residential areas where foreigners are concentrated, and conducting activities such as language training and cultural adaptation education. In view of the diversity of migration governance needs and situations in various regions, local governments should adapt to local conditions, flexibly integrate resources, innovate the international migration governance model, improve the accuracy of governance, and ensure efficient coordination of resources, and jointly promote the formation of a new pattern of international migration governance with the participation of multiple entities.
6. Pilot a more open visa policy
At present, China has achieved unprecedented breakthroughs in visa facilitation. The implementation of a more convenient and open visa policy is an important measure to promote multicultural exchanges and accelerate economic and social development. It will not only strongly promote the construction of a new type of international relations featuring openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win results, but also demonstrate China's open mind and modern governance capacity, laying a solid foundation for attracting more international talents, international capital injection and innovative resource exchanges.
Further reform of China's visa policy could follow two main directions. First, deepen visa facilitation reform based on the existing policy framework. According to the results of the evaluation of the effectiveness of the current unilateral visa-free policy, the scope of unilateral visa-free countries should be further expanded, especially those countries with frequent economic interactions and close people-to-people exchanges, such as Japan, South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and trial unilateral visa-free treatment should be considered for specific groups such as youth exchanges and business visits. The second is to improve the electronic level of visa to China and establish a fully functional electronic visa application platform. On the basis of the existing visa application centre platform, combine advanced electronic information technology and AI technology to create an integrated online service platform for China's electronic visa. The platform will guide foreigners to apply for visas to China online through the entire process of, realizing a modernized visa application process of online filling, data uploading, online payment and visa receiving, so as to simplify the conventional process, reduce service costs and improve service efficiency.
7. Create a more international living environment
The main problems encountered by international talents living in China include the inconvenience of mobile payment and network access.
In terms of mobile payment, at present, the three main payment methods for foreigners in China include card payment, cash and mobile payment, and many foreign talents have difficulties and obstacles in using all three payment methods. Despite the extreme popularity of mobile payments in China, foreigners may find that their international credit cards do not work in some places or have difficulty binding and using local payment apps. In March 2024, The General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Further Optimizing Payment Services and Improving the Convenience of Payment, emphasizing that mobile payment, bank cards, cash and other payment methods should develop in parallel and complement each other, which could further improve the level of payment services, and promote a high level of opening-up. In order to facilitate card payment and mobile payment by foreigners, efforts can be made to solve the payment problems of foreigners by appropriately installing additional POS machines, lowering card payment rates, opening payment service desks at airports and other first stops for foreigners coming to China, and providing services such as currency exchange, mobile payment application downloads and guidance on the use of such services.
In terms of network access, although foreigners can currently use VPNs to access foreign websites, there are still problems with the small scope of use and high roaming costs. At present, there are mature solutions for accessing foreign websites around the country. For example, during the Beijing Winter Olympics, China provided solutions to facilitate foreigners' Internet access; During the Asian Games in Hangzhou, the city opened VPNs for foreign athletes for a limited time. At present, employees of international enterprises or foreign trade enterprises in China can access foreign websites through VPN for work purposes. However, on the whole, the radius of these Internet access facilities is still relatively small, it is recommended to extend the current effective initiatives to facilitate foreigners' access to the Internet to a wider range of foreign nationals in China, so as to provide foreigners with more convenient and more affordable network communication services.