Chinese leaders Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao have stressed the importance of human talent in China's modernisation project. Over the years, China has gradually established a nationwide policy of human resources development (HRD). Recent research has documented the evolution of China's HRD policy. (1) milestone event was an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference on human capacity building (Beijing Initiative) that Beijing hosted in 2001. Building on this momentum, China included a special chapter on HRD in the 10th Five-year Plan (2001-2005), the first time ever in a five-year plan. This in turn helped China take more pro-active measures to develop human resources through education, training and research and development (R&D). Against this backdrop, China has become much more open and outward-looking towards global talent, including overseas Chinese and foreigners of non-Chinese origin. Not only has the central government, but also local governments have shown great interest in attracting global talent. Indeed there has been growing competition among the large cities for top-notch talent from abroad. Another development is that the type of talent China is recruiting has changed over the years. While the central government continues to value top scientists and engineers for the purpose of national innovation and competitiveness, other types of talent--senior managing staff in multinational corporations and banks and technopreneurs who have developed their own patents or technology--are also targeted by various talent schemes. The current global financial crisis, while bad news for employment and economic growth, is helping China attract global top talent. The worst financial crisis in decades has resulted in a cutback in research programmes in some developed countries whereas China continues to increase spending on science and technology development. The global financial crisis is therefore serving as a push factor to the advantage of China. The Central Organisation Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) launched the One Thousand Talents Scheme in December 2008. The scheme plans to recruit 2,000 talent of any nationality in the next five to ten years. It represents China's latest effort in a global hunt for top-notch talent. China's HRD Systems Traditionally, China's human resource functions have been divided among three agencies. The first agency is the Organisation Department of the CPC, extending from the central level down to the county level. It is responsible for leadership selection, evaluation, promotion and training. The Department plays a central role in allocating qualified individuals to leadership positions at various levels of Party and government agencies, as well as managerial positions in medium-to large-sized state owned enterprises (SOEs). The second agency is the Ministry of Personnel in the central government and Bureau of Personnel at the provincial, municipal and county levels. This system is in charge of human resource functions for professional employees in the state sector, including party and government agencies, public institutions such as schools and hospitals and SOEs. The third agency is the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in the central government and Bureau of Labour and Social Security in sub-national governments. This system is in charge of human resource functions for workers in the state sector. With the expansion of private employment, it also oversees functions such as unemployment insurance, labour relations and workplace safety for workers in the private sector. (2) In 2008, the Ministry of Personnel and Ministry of Labour and Social Security were merged and renamed the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The new ministry is responsible for national labour policies, standards and regulations and managing the national social security system. Insofar as talent schemes are concerned, the Central Organisation Department plays a much more important role than the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security or its predecessors. …