Reuters (May 12) reported that the industrialised Chinese coastal city of Wuxi in Jiangsu
province is offering Nobel Prize winners up to 10 million yuan ($1.48 million) in housing
subsidies to attract top talent in a national economy that is shifting towards innovation-driven
development. It referred to a local government statement of May 11, which said that home
purchase subsidies of 3 million yuan ($443,203.47) to 10 million yuan ($1.48 million) offered
by two districts in Wuxi for "Category A" talent including Nobel laureates in physics and
chemistry are among the highest in the country. The subsidies are generous in comparison to
average home prices in the city. On average, home prices in Wuxi were 14,224 yuan per square
metre in April, or 1.28 million yuan for a 90-square-metre (969-square-feet) apartment. In
recent years, big cities across China including rising tech hubs in the country's interior have
rolled out incentives such as tax cuts to university graduates in a fierce grab for talent to
upgrade their respective economies. Chief among the incentives are rental or home-purchase
subsidies in cities where property prices have soared and spending on housing eats up a big
chunk of individual incomes. Yan Yuejin, Research Director of Shanghai-based E-house China and Development Institute was quoted saying "Some other cities have also granted subsidies
for home purchases, but the maximum amount is generally 2 million to 5 million yuan."
|
