China's main organization for international experts exchanges Wednesday promised to meet the increasing needs of the country's high-tech industry, said a senior official with the organization.

It could mean that for the first time, top managers in state-owned enterprises will not necessarily be Chinese.

Wang Xinmin, deputy director of the State Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs, spoke at the Ninth International Symposium for 2001's Projects of Foreign Experts Service in China.

He said the demand for high-tech industry international professionals has been growing, especially in coastal cities in the IT and bio-engineering fields.

"For both developing and developed countries, attracting more top-level intelligence in those high-tech fields is a priority," said Kang Jinying, secretary-general of Xiamen Association for International Exchange of Personnel.

More than 200 experts in about 50 different projects are needed for state-owned enterprises in Xiamen next year and several projects covering environment protection, bio-engineering and other high-tech industries, according to Kang.

Wang said the central government will contribute stable financial support to upgrade the level of our cooperation with foreign professionals.

Enterprises will be encouraged to invite foreign experts in accordance with international practice, according to Wang.

"They can offer higher salaries to high-level foreign talents," Wang said.

Moreover, the foreign experts bureau will actively explore ways of helping state-owned and private enterprises to invite foreign experts into the country.

"The Internet will be used to expand cooperation with the outside world in order to seek more partners," Wang said, noting that his bureau's website is under construction.

Another goal is to employ high-ranking management in some state-owned enterprises.

"Relevant investigations are still going on," Wang said. "But it is a big step forward to breaking the traditional way of thinking that only Chinese employees can hold high positions in state-owned enterprises."

But the actions taken by the foreign experts bureau to promote Chinese high-tech industry should not lead to any worry over intellectual property rights (IPR).

"We will take more concrete measures to protect IPR and to protect patent owners," Wang said.

(China Daily)