The 17^th Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP), co-hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology (State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs) and Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government, came to a successful conclusion on April 15, 2019. Wang Zhigang, Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Zhang Jianguo, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Director of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, and Wang Weizhong, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and Secretary of CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee, and other leaders attended the conference and the exhibition.

The 17^th CIEP, in accordance with the purpose of “integrating global intelligence, promoting innovation cooperation, and seeking common development”, consisted of 26 events in nine sections, namely the Opening Ceremony, Shenzhen Forum, Exhibitions and Negotiations, Professional Conferences, Important Events of the Guest of Honor, Pitch@Palace China, China (Shenzhen) Innovation & Entrepreneurship International Competition, Domestic and Foreign Sub-venues, and Online Platforms. Compared with previous conferences, the 17^th CIEP featured more elements about innovation-driven development, with a focus on showcasing the construction of the international sci-tech innovation center in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the transfer and transformation of sci-tech achievements, and the knowledge-intensive service industries. Moreover, “Pitch@Palace”, a world-renowned international entrepreneurship and innovation incubation platform, was invited to launch the final of Pitch@Palace China 3.0 at the 17^th CIEP. Both in terms of form and content, there was a major breakthrough and innovation.

According to statistics, in addition to the important guests from the Guest of Honor the United Kingdom, and the Observer Russia, the 17^th CIEP attracted more than 4,000 professional organizations, training institutions, colleges & universities, high-tech enterprises and human resources institutions from 52 countries and regions, including the United States, Israel, Germany, Japan, Ukraine, Finland, Italy, South Korea, France and Australia, over 8,500 foreign experts and overseas high-level talents, and more than 9,300 representatives appointed by science and technology, human resources and education departments of provinces and cities as well as by talent attraction departments of enterprises. To be specific, Hebei Province released more than 150 requests for talents and projects via the “Talent SHOW" platform and invited 11 Russian high-end experts to Hebei for project matchmaking; Jiangsu Province reached 96 cooperation intentions for introducing foreign experts and signed eight cooperation agreements; Yancheng City successfully held the “Overseas High-level Talent Project Matchmaking Fair”; Guangdong Province focused on showcasing the sci-tech innovation and intellectual achievements of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and helped Zhuhai City to hold its sub-venue event, Zhongshan City to conclude an agreement with Professor Zhang Han’s team from Shenzhen University on the biomedical photonics research project, and Zhaoqing City to build partnership with the Hong Kong Vocational Training Council.

The 17^th CIEP, with 2,105 booths and an exhibition area of 70,000 square meters, attracted delegations of 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, which introduced their respective policies of attracting talents and the environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. Shandong, Hebei, Jiangsu, Guangdong and other provinces have appointed large delegations to attend the conference. According to available statistics, at the 17^th CIEP, 66 conferences and activities were held, and provinces and cities reached 3,000-plus intentions to cooperate with professional organizations, training institutions and returnees on talent attraction projects. The cooperation covered many professional fields, such as 5G, biomedicine, fintech, artificial intelligence, information technology, intelligent manufacturing, new materials, new energy and environmental protection. The two-day conference attracted 110,000 visitors.

The 17^th CIEP was promoted by using WeChat Official Account, Sina Weibo, Douban, Douyin, Kuaishou and other mainstream social media platforms. In addition, electronic screens in the subways, buses, airport arrival halls, exhibition centers and other places in Shenzhen were used to help promotion. Flags of the 17^th CIEP were placed around the Wuzhou Guest House Shenzhen and along urban trunk roads. A photo-taking spot was set in the main venue of the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, and both the WeChat Moments and the conference’s H5 were flooded with numerous photos from the spot. With a focus on extensive coverage, 73 domestic and foreign media, including Xinhua News Agency, People’s Daily, China Daily, Science and Technology Daily, Economic Daily, China Media Group, Phoenix Television, Ta Kung Pao, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily and Shenzhen Economic Daily, released 1,857 pieces of press release. The real-time live videos of the Opening Ceremony had been viewed for about 687,000 times, and the readership of new media exceeded 32 million, inspiring favorable responses from both at home and abroad.