China-Europe Talent Forum Highlights

The China-Europe Talent Forum has been held five timessince it was initiated by the Chinese Embassy in Switzerlandin collaboration with the Swiss Adecco Group in 2018. Its 2024edition will be due on October 15. Over the years， it has servedas a platform for strengthening talent exchange and cooperationbetween China and Europe.

China-Europe Talent Forum 2018， Zurich

Over 100 senior executives from Chinese and European companiesexchanged views on the European labor market and itslaws and regulations， global talent acquisition， and staff managementand training.

Geng Wenbing， then Chinese ambassador to Switzerland，said an economy driven by innovation is one driven by talents.That is why the Chinese market has a huge demand for highcalibertalents. China and Europe are the world’s two majoreconomies， showing a broad prospect for cooperation.

China-Europe Talent Forum 2019， Zurich

How governments， universities， and enterprises understand andgrasp “future talent” was the focus of the forum. It brought togethermore than 180 participants from enterprises， internationalorganizations， Chinese and Swiss universities， and governmentagencies in Chinese cities including Shanghai， Shenzhen， Xi’an， andZhenjiang.

China has a large amount of skilled talents， while Europeboasts innovative and entrepreneurial talents. The complementaryadvantages are obvious， and the potential for exchange andcooperation is huge. Innovation-oriented Switzerland hopesto establish channels for communication between enterprises，schools， and government departments through the forum andfind “future talent” who can adapt to the new trends of socialdevelopment.

Talent for the BRI was also discussed， with in-depth analysis ofcross-cultural talent cooperation. A white paper titled “OptimizingYour Talent Mix： Bring， Buy or Build” was released， putting forwardnew ideas on the optimal allocation of talent resources.

China-Europe Talent Forum 2020， Beijing

The 2020 forum themed “Sharing ToK+UiTgYWDKVsHglJj8CdIv9HrHP+3ckE5El+VSj9IFA=gether， Growing Together，and Winning Together： Building a New Governance Systemfor Global Talent Flow” was held in Beijing. The participantsspoke on the “challenges， opportunities and suggestions forglobal talent exchange and cooperation” during the pandemicand gave their suggestions on promoting global talent exchangeand cooperation.

The Adecco Group released its latest research findings， titled“Using Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment： Enemy or Friend？”Beijing Institute of Talent Development Strategy and BeijingForeign Enterprise Service Group （FESCO） jointly released TheGlobal City Talent Retention Index 2020 which showed thetop three cities in terms of talent retention were Washington，Vienna， and New York， with Beijing ranking eighth. The reportsaid the most critical factor for a city to attract and retain talentis innovation potential， followed by factors such as the businessclimate， salary and benefits， and the ecological environment.

China-Europe Talent Forum 2021

The China-Europe Talent Forum 2021， simultaneously held inBeijing and Zurich， made “Sharing Together， Growing Together，and Winning Together” its permanent theme， and conductedexchanges and discussions around the annual theme of “EmpoweringTalents.” More than 200 people， including then Chinese Ambassadorto Switzerland Wang Shihting， then Swiss Ambassadorto China Bernardino Regazzoni， representative of the InternationalOrganization for Migration （IOM） in China Giuseppe Crocetti，and Chairman of the Adecco Group Jean-Christophe Deslarzesattended the forum.

A memorandum of understanding （MoU） on supporting Sino-Swiss talent exchange and cooperation was jointly signed byBITS， FESCO， and the Adecco Group. The MoU aimed to promotetalent exchange in science and technology， finance， digitaleconomy， and basic disciplines between China and Europe. BITSand the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce signed an agreementon Swiss-Sino （Beijing） Co-construction of Talent andTechnological Innovation Cooperation Center to promote highqualitycooperation between China and Switzerland throughproject-based and tangible approaches， and attract more inter-national talents to Beijing.

BITS and FESCO jointly released The Global City TalentRetention Index 2021， which evaluated the competitiveness of50 cities around the world， including New York， London， Zurich，and Beijing， in their ability to attract， retain， and make gooduse of talents. Beijing’s ranking rose from eighth in the previousyear to seventh.

China-Europe Talent Forum 2023， Zurich

The theme this time was “Sharing Together， Growing Together，and Winning Together – Boosting Industry-universityResearch Collaboration to Nurture Top Talent Pipelines.”

Chinese and European academicians and experts， renowneduniversity presidents， representatives of international organizations，and leaders of well-known enterprises gave suggestionson how to coordinate integrated development of education，technology， and talent， and promote global talent exchange andcooperation.

The Global City Talent Retention Index 2023， released duringthe forum， showed that Beijing was the only Chinese cityto be in the top 10 cities in terms of talent retention for fourconsecutive years due to its outstanding innovation potential.Peking University and the Adecco Group signed a cooperationagreement on joint cultivation of international talent throughuniversity-enterprise cooperation， building a new platform forinternational talent cultivation to promote talent exchange andcultivation between China and Switzerland， mutual exchange oftalent between the two sides， and enhancing the overall competitivenessof talent.

China-Europe Talent Forum 2024， Beijing

Themed “Bridging Continents： Fostering Future-fit TalentDevelopment，” the forum will have representatives fromgovernment agencies， international organizations， renowneduniversities， research institutions， high-tech enterprises， andthink tanks. Preferential policies for international talent will bereleased， as well as the Global City Talent Retention Index 2024.Memorandums of understanding on cooperation will also besigned between China and Europe.

There will be sub-forums on youth， education， S&T talent，culture， economy and trade， and international sport. Cooperationand dialogues on talent exchange will be carried out onsuch topics as promoting talent exchange and cooperationbetween China and Europe with cultural communication， talenttrends in the current economic and trade environment， empoweringyoung talent development with new quality productiveforces， promoting international youth exchanges， and digitalintelligence-driven higher education.