To enrich the pool of talents and promote innovation in Beijing and build a youth-friendly environment, on November 1, Zhang Wei, Party Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director-General of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources, visited the Beijing Municipal Institute of City Planning and Design (the “Institute”). He attended a presentation prepared by the Research Office of the Institute, a session that dealt with the general willingness of college graduates in Beijing to stay in the Capital and their spatial needs. The visiting officials also engaged in discussions with the research team. Shi Xiaodong, member of the Party Leadership Group of Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources, Party Secretary and President of Beijing Urban Planning and Design Institute, and Chief Planner (concurrently) of Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources, Huang Xiaochun, Chief Engineer of the Beijing Urban Planning and Design Institute, and experts and officials serving at various departments and offices at the Commission and project teams at the Institute attended the meeting.

During the session, the Commission’s Research Office presented an overview of the planning studies conducted in recent years, focusing on the popular topics among the general public. The Institute’s research team presented on the shifting trends in the number of university graduates in Beijing in recent years. They analyzed the graduates’ willingness to stay in Beijing and their characteristics regarding employment and living needs, proposing strategies to attract graduates for development based on a livable, job-friendly, and leisure-friendly spatial approach.

Comrade Zhang Wei engaged in discussions with the research team after hearing the reports and shared thoughts on further deepening the research. First, to enrich the data repository, we should integrate data from various government departments and analyze in depth the correlation between graduate employment and the overall employment situation in Beijing. Second, we should draw on the experience of other major cities in promoting employment, entrepreneurship, and settlement for young people. Third, to implement the overall plan, we should investigate the spatial implications for attracting talent, and look at spatial supply, industrial structure, housing policies, etc. from various perspectives.

In the future, said Zhang Wei, we should deepen our understanding of national talent development policies. We should lend insights to the modernization of the capital, implement the leadership’s instructions, and promote in-depth research on the specific needs of young talents. Our research, said Zhang, should help to boost Beijing’s appeal to talents.