Zhang Jianguo (left), director of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, talks with Mark Levine, a US folk musician who has performed Chinese music and taught music at several universities in China, before a reception in Beijing held by the administration for distinguished foreign experts in China on Tuesday. Photo by Feng Yongbin / China Daily

China will become more open to introducing foreign experts this year and it will extend cooperation with other countries in talent exchange, Zhang Jianguo, director of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, said on Jan 29.

Foreign experts have made a remarkable contribution to China’s development in the past decades, Zhang said at a reception given by his administration, at which more than 300 foreign experts and diplomatic envoys to China were present. “We sincerely welcome more and more foreign experts to actively participate in China’s growth and share the fruits of development,” he said. “We will continue our efforts to provide a better working and living environment for foreign experts who come to work in China.”

More than 550,000 foreign experts were working in China in 2012, according to Zhang.