The Chinese government is promoting a program for young talent called Qiming that focuses on STEM subjects like semiconductors as US China Tech War tightens. Self-identified recruiters have placed ads seeking Qiming candidates on LinkedIn and the Chinese Q&A website Zhihu.
US China Tech War: China stealthily hires foreign semiconductor talent as US tightens (Photo: Tech in Asia)
US China Tech War Tightens
As US China Tech War is on its edge China aimed to hire top foreign-trained scientists under a lavishly funded initiative for ten years prior to 2018, which Washington perceived as a threat to US interests and technical dominance.
According to three sources with knowledge of the matter and a Reuters review of more than 500 government documents spanning 2019 to 2023, China quietly revived the Thousand Talents Plan (TTP) under a new name and format as part of a larger mission to accelerate its tech proficiency two years after it stopped promoting it due to US China tech war investigations of scientists.
The redesigned hiring campaign, which Reuters first reported in full, includes benefits like home purchase subsidies and standard signing bonuses of 3 to 5 million yuan, or US$420,000 to US$700,000.
China Strengthen Technological Independence amidst US China Tech War
As Western nations and US China tech war step up legal barriers intended to exclude China from the global technology trade, China wants to independently create the most cutting-edge technology available.
Over the past ten years of US China tech war, Beijing has introduced a wide range of programs to increase technological independence, providing state money to stay up with the United States.
Beijing’s attempts to develop semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) would be stifled if the US China tech war and its Western allies prevented Chinese companies from accessing cutting-edge technology. Additionally, they forbid Chinese telecom firms from joining their 5G marketplaces.
