Talented Chinese students studying abroad will be offered a range of sweet deals to lure them back home after their studies.

Returned graduates in high-demand fields such as basic sciences, engineering, finance and management, will be allowed to work without residency restrictions, personnel quotas and pay limits, according to a document jointly issued by 16 ministries.

The policy also applies to graduates with skills that China urgently needs, according to the document published on the website of the Ministry of Personnel on Thursday without further details.

It is understood the students will be able to work and live freely even in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where a strict residency control policy is in place to prevent mass population flow.

Graduates are encouraged to introduce advanced foreign technologies and help establish hi-tech enterprises, the document said.

It is also said that the government will provide special funds to attract high-level graduates, and simplify procedures at border entry and exit points for them.

Even the students' children face the prospect of getting special benefits while enrolling in Chinese universities.

(China Daily March 31, 2007)