During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), Shanghai's Changning district introduced a series of practical measures to attract, cultivate, retain, and deploy talent, aiming to build a high-quality environment for talent development.

Housing Support

The district has strengthened its multi-tiered housing system through rental subsidies, preferential housing schemes, and dedicated allocations. Under the "Two Subsidies, Two Allocations" policy package, more than 14,000 talented professionals from over 2,000 enterprises have received rental subsidies. Seven designated apartment projects now provide over 7,800 housing units.

Additionally, the Talent Station initiative offers up to three months of free temporary accommodation for qualified high-level talent. Projects such as the Hongqiao Talent Apartments and the Gubei International Talent Community further enhance residential convenience and living standards for incoming professionals.

Service Facilitation

The Shanghai Hongqiao One-Stop Service Center for Overseas Talent has undergone a comprehensive upgrade, integrating 69 service functions and streamlining seven major services into a single, one-stop process that minimizes paperwork and procedures.

The center also provides multilingual policy and daily-life guides, an online talent apartment application function, and dedicated desks for services that include medical insurance.

As of October 2025, the center has served more than 157,000 domestic and international professionals. A standout innovation is the employment of foreign social workers who deliver 31 categories of daily-life services to support expatriates' integration.

Policy Instruments

Changning has refined a full-cycle policy framework consisting of 19 targeted measures that address the key needs of talent introduction and development. By applying a tiered system combining points-based residence, talent introduction, and overseas graduate settlement policies, the district has facilitated the local household registration of more than 30,000 individuals since 2021.

To strengthen youth development, Changning has expanded internship schemes, workshops, and talent camps, and launched the city's first district-level "Youth One-Stop Service Platform", offering 24 types of online services.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Platforms

The district continues to build platforms that support innovation-driven growth. It hosts regional rounds of global innovation and entrepreneurship competition, expands outreach to attract high-quality domestic and overseas projects, and promotes post-competition follow-up services.

Complementary initiatives, including the "Science and Technology Stars" program, innovation forums, and university–enterprise cooperation schemes, have led to the selection of more than 70 innovation teams and over 20 joint training projects since 2021.

Through these coordinated measures, Changning is strengthening its capacity to attract, support, and empower talent across all stages of development.

Source: WeChat account of Changning district information office at "shchangning"