A note on the role of foreign experts in the long-term development of China

文/ Alberto Conejo Nava (Mexico)

阿尔伯托·科内霍·纳瓦（Alberto Conejo Nava 墨西哥），北京科技大学冶金与生态工程学院教授，2021年度中国政府友谊奖获得者。作为国际知名的冶金工程专家，与北京科技大学冶金新技术团队合作开发的一系列低碳技术，显著提高了北京科技大学在“碳中和”技术研究领域的国际竞争力。

Alberto Conejo Nava (Mexico) is a full-time professor at the School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering of the University of Science and Technology Beijing(USTB). Winner of the Chinese Government Award in 2021. Prof. Conejo is an internationally renowned expert in metallurgical engineering; he has developed a series of low-carbon technologies in cooperation with the new iron-making technology team of USTB,which significantly improves the international competitiveness of USTB in the field of “carbon neutral” technology research.

On October 16th, 2022, President Xi Jinping made a report to the 20th CPC National Congress outlining the strategies to attract high-quality talent for “the longterm development of China and the Chinese nation,”pointing out that “No effort should be spared and no rigid boundaries drawn in the endeavor to bring together the best and the brightest minds from all over.” What supports his words is the actions taken by the Chinese government in the last decades. Foreign Experts today constitute a large workforce; however,other countries have also outlined similar visions for their future, making cultivating and attracting talent a big challenge.

I have been in China for a short time, about five years,primarily focused on my research work. My vision is short-sighted, but despite this, I believe that by adding individual experiences as foreign experts, collectively,we can provide elements to reinforce the long-term objectives of science and technology made by China.

Before giving my humble opinion, I would like to discuss two concepts. What is talent? and what it means to talent without virtue?

The word talent derives from the Latin word talentum,a unit for both weight (25.86 kg) and money (3000 drachmas). One talent was a considerable amount of money.

Schopenhauer described genius and talent: Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see. The origin of talent is still unknown, and experts disagree, providing evidence suggesting it is nature in some cases but nurture in others.

I believe that there is talent in each human being but society is responsible for providing a suitable environment; good education promotes creative thinking and finding the right place for each individual. Guan Zhong, more than 2600 years ago, said: “After a year of cultivation, there will be a harvest of crops; after ten years of cultivation, there will be a harvest of timber.After a hundred years of cultivation, talent will be harvested”.

President Xi Jinping separated two qualities of talented people: integrity and professional competence. These two components are crucial. Confucius emphasized the priority of virtuous people. People with only talent can be good at doing things but not necessarily for the benefit of society. The task of bringing the brightest minds from all over should include people with both talent and moral virtues. Confucius explained in detail the five principles that build virtuous people [ (Junzi君子) : Benevolence (Ren), Righteousness (Yi), Respectful cooperation with others (Li), Knowledge (Zhi), and Integrity (Xin) ] .

In the past, China has successfully attracted people from all over the world with talent and virtues. An excellent strategy to attract talent would be listening to their experience. This is why my first proposal is to create a permanent forum for discussion of the work carried out by foreign experts, organized by the same foreign experts, providing a platform for open discussions focused on the expansion and reinforcement of international collaboration among foreign experts and Chinese scholars. In today’s world, there is no need to move to engage in everyday research work. What is needed are more virtual programs that attract experts from all over the world to work on solving the problems we all face as humankind: global warming,poverty, water supply, energy, development of breakthrough technologies, peace, food, etc. I have proposed the creation of a Foreign Experts Society in China, and I hope that together we can build a solid network to share and give back to society.

It has been demonstrated that talent is not portable. Relocating talent disrupts family and personal lives, and there is no guarantee that high performance is kept in a foreign context. China should implement measures to provide conditions similar to those from which talent comes. The room for improvement here is enormous; (1)remove the language barrier by providing conditions for foreign experts to learn Chinese before they even start their academic work, (2) access to foreign experts for research grants from both NSFC programs and industry is still complicated. Some factors are bureaucracy, tight timing to submit proposals, foreign experts being excluded from the reviewing process, possible bias to support research work by foreign experts, etc. (3)promoting the research work carried out by multiple organizations worldwide. Many other minor challenges on an individual basis should also be considered, which range from basic internet applications to carry out our daily work. Programs that help foreign experts to adapt to everyday life include: providing more competitive salaries that guarantee similar living conditions, adjust internal policies to provide a fair treatment in promotions, remove negative practices that promote the formation of closed groups, improve communication channels inside the institutions that consider the presence of foreign experts who don’t speak Chinese, etc.

In today’s world, the new paradigm is the “China dream.” For many foreign experts like me, China offers the conditions to fulfill individual dreams in many fields. For example, the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), where I work, ranks number one in the discipline of metallurgy. A leading worldwide university also deserves the best students and faculty members worldwide.

The way China is doing today is working successfully.Spending on research and development grew almost 500%, from 0.5% of GDP in 1996 to 2.44% in 2021. The results of this policy are global leadership in many technological fields and ever-expanding in other areas.About half of the steel industry’s research funds come from the industry, indicating a close internal collaboration between academia and industry.

My thought about the human condition is that our world is like a single human body where each organ plays a vital role. Its health depends on the coordinated efforts of all organs. Even if the tiniest part of our body suffers some damage, our whole body gets affected. It looks so simple to understand that we need each other to live harmoniously. However, the reality is dominated by a permanent struggle. That’s why, now, more than ever, the plead for international collaboration and global friendship made by President Xi Jinping deserves celebration.