A coastal county is calling for more professionals to join its drive to become a high-tech economic area. Yuhuan County, in East China's Zhejiang Province, is toying with the idea of granting permanent resident permits to talents and intending to make more job information available, according to Jiang Yongzhi, the county's Party secretary. At a press conference in Beijing on Saturday, Jiang said college students looked like the best solution for its lack of skilled workers because they are familiar with the new professional knowledge and concept. "We need more such students and experts with professional skills to work with us," Jiang said. The local government has come up with a policy to make the hiring of skilled workers an easier process, promising that skilled personnel will be able to enjoy almost all the benefits of residency and other preferential treatment while working in the county, Jiang added. The gross domestic product of the county, which has a population of 460,000, is now 7.8 billion yuan (US$943 million). Like its agriculture and aquatic products industry, it has 7,200 small and medium-sized firms, mainly in machinery, transport equipment, food, plastics, leather and metal. Last year, Yuhuan recruited 1,089 professional personnel from Wuhan, Xi'an, Chengdu and Lanzhou. "We have also tried to set up a system for creating opportunities for managerial and technological personnel to give full play to their skills, and this is the best way to attract more professionals," said Jiang. (China Daily 06/25/2001)