Shijiazhuang New and High-tech Industrial Development Zone has set up a talent fund with an initial earmark of no less than 100 billion yuan to attract high-quality personnel to Shijiazhuang, North China’s Hebei province, government officials said on Oct 20.

The industrial zone is expecting a breakthrough and upgrade according to the 12th Five-Year-Plan (2011-2015), said Zhao Shuanwen, the committee director.

The fund is mainly targeted at high-level professionals in the fields of biological pharmaceuticals, precision instrument manufacturing and information network, and those well-versed in management and administration from China and abroad.

By 2015, new and high-tech industry is expected to make up 60 percent of the industries in the zone and biological pharmaceuticals will reach 29 percent. The technicians are to cover a quarter of the work.

By Guo Changdong and Zhang Nan