Hainan issues details on free housing offer to high-end talents

Three departments - housing, finance and human resources - in the South China's Hainan province jointly issued a document on Thursday to regulate the process of free housing and lodging provided to high-level talents coming from other parts of China and overseas.

The preferential policies on housing for the talents were first laid out on June 11 by the provincial government, in which it decided to offer top talents an apartment for free, a move considered the most appealing and powerful measure.

The talents have to meet a few conditions and follow certain rules though.

According to the document issued on June 11, the applicants eligible for a free apartment have to be introduced from other parts of China and overseas, and fall into the first three levels of talents classified by the Hainan government, which classified five levels of talents in terms of their importance and shortage in 2017.

They can be winners of the renowned awards at global and national levels such as the Nobel Prize, Turing Award and China's Highest Science and Technology Awards.

Academician and outstanding scholars at home and abroad are included.

Athletes who win medal in national, Asian or world events, entrepreneurs who pay income tax of over 3 million yuan for three consecutive years, role models from all walks of life are also in the list.

The new rules are more detailed.

The applicants should be introduced to work in Hainan province after the date of May 13. They should have worked for eight years from the date of first paying personal income tax or China's social insurance.

The application should be submitted by the talents' employer to the county-level or city government where the applicant is based. If the wife and the husband are both identified as qualified talents but work in different cities, they could apply for two apartments or both obtain the housing subsidy.

Earlier in May, the Hainan province had announced plans to attract a million talents from various walks of life from home and abroad from 2018 to 2025 to spur its development. A series of newly announced preferential policies on housing for introduced talents and implementation measures are just a part of the efforts to carry out the plan.