The city of Shenzhen, in south China's Guangdong Province, plans to recruit government employees from Hong Kong beginning this August.

A total of 3,000 jobs are expected to be open in the fields of city planning and management, health, education, technology and finance. Annual salaries will reach as high as US$180,000.

Shenzhen is interested in recruiting from the special administrative region because in general, Hong Kong residents have a higher level of education, are fluent in both English and Chinese and are more professional.

A recent survey shows Shenzhen is the first choice for Hong Kong people seeking employment on the mainland.

The Shenzhen government also expects to cooperate with its HKSAR counterparts and talent market intermediaries to set up a long-term mechanism for talent exchanges and training programs.

The implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) from January 1 this year provides a new platform for economic cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong that calls for more talent exchanges between the cities.

By the end of April, there were more than 11,087 Hong Kong-funded enterprises with a total investment of US$34.5 billion in Shenzhen.

"At the early stage of the city's opening, we depended on Hong Kong funds and technology to achieve rapid economic development. Today we should do more to use Hong Kong talent to realize the city's new development goals," said Shenzhen Vice Mayor Xu Zongheng.

The number of Hong Kong people working in Shenzhen is now more than 30,000.

(CRI and Shenzhen Daily June 24, 2004)