Foshan, a city in South China's Guangdong province, is pushing harder than ever to attract highlevel professionals in an effort to bolster its advanced manufacturing industry.

As part of the efforts, the Foshan High-level Talents Station and the Foshan High-level Talents Industrial Park opened at the end of 2019.

They are expected to help Foshan achieve its goal of becoming an advanced manufacturing industrial center.

By integrating domestic and international expertise and technological resources, the station and the industrial park will become pioneering projects in Guangdong－or even China－in terms of the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, local officials said.

The station and the industrial park rely on the high-quality industrial infrastructure of the Foshan National High-tech Industry Development Park, a State-level industrial zone approved by the State Council in 1992.

The national park is a vital part of Foshan's economic growth, which gathers a large number of investment firms and high-tech enterprises. It is also home to a batch of business incubators and platforms for innovation and startups.

So far, a total of 12 projects in emerging industries, such as electronic information, biopharmaceuticals and new materials, have agreed to settle in the talent station. Also, 12 organizations specializing in cutting-edge technological fields have signed contracts to cooperate with the talent station.

"The station and the industrial park are expected to gather a group of high-level professionals in Foshan, allowing the city to seize decisive opportunities in the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," said Yang Zhiming, chairman of the Chinese Association for Labour Studies and a former vice-minister of human resources and social security.

Bi Dongqin, a professor from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Sun Yat-sen University, said she is satisfied with the services for professionals in Guangdong province.

"We are taken good care of by the local government through the province's various favorable policies and measures," Bi said. "We don't need to spend much time on miscellaneous things every day and can concentrate on our scientific research."

With a number of traditional industries, such as mechanical equipment, household appliances, furniture, ceramics, and metal processing, Foshan has become an important manufacturing center in China and even the world since the country began its reform and opening-up.

Amid a changing global economic climate, the city has been looking for economic transformation and updates in recent years. Foshan is trying to develop its advanced manufacturing industry and build itself into a prime industrial base.

Local authorities said the development of human resources is an important way to achieve such a goal.

Foshan's achievements in the manufacturing industry come from the efforts of tens of thousands of professionals, said Pan Dongsheng, director of the administrative committee of the Foshan National High-tech Industry Development Park.

No matter what field they specialize in, high-level professionals will always be an important part in supporting the development of Foshan's advanced manufacturing industry, Pan noted.