The 2007 Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP), organized by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government, was held in Shenzhen from November 30 to December 1, 2007. Hua Jianmin, State Councilor and Secretary General of the State Council, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Representatives from relevant departments of the State Council including the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and pertinent officials from Guangdong Province and Shenzhen attended the opening ceremony.

Approved by the State Council, the 6^th CIEP was hosted by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs and Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government. Since then, Shenzhen has been the venue of CIEP. The 6^th CIEP highlighted its internationalized, specialized and market-oriented services by making the most of Shenzhen’s proximity to Hong Kong and Macao, the first-mover advantage in reform and opening-up, the industrial advantage in high-tech development, and the efforts to attract high-caliber talent. The 6^th CIEP provided an exhibition area of 30,000 square meters for more than 3,000 foreign representatives (or representatives outside Chinese Mainland) of over 600 expert organizations, training institutions, professional associations and research institutions from 40-plus countries and regions to display and discuss their 5,000-plus projects and talent attraction achievements. At the 6^th CIEP, the concept of “organizing the CIEP in internationalized, upscale, specialized, high-quality and market-oriented manners” was first presented. Moreover, more than 50 Hong Kong-based organizations attended the conference, and a section for Hong Kong was first established. Ji Yunshi, Li Zhaoxing, Zhang Xinsheng and others delivered speeches at the first Hong Kong International Talents Summit.