BEIJING government has relaxed the age limit for candidates applying to a scheme recruiting senior foreign experts to work in science and technology in China.
Applicants for the "1,000 Foreign Experts" program can now be aged up to 65 - rather than 55 as before.
"We used to require that all applicants be under 55. Considering the reality of foreign experts, however, we have extended the age limit to 65," an official with the Beijing Foreign Expert Bureau told Xinhua news agency.
Beijing's 1,000 Foreign Experts is part of the nation's Recruitment Program of Global Experts, initiated in 2008 to attract overseas experts to help boost the country's scientific and technical innovation.
The name of the scheme - which excludes social science fields - comes from the target of recruiting between 500 and 1,000 foreign experts within five to 10 years.
The official said the program is open to all non-Chinese foreign experts and is focused on those who will take on long-term work.
It requires experts to work in China for at least three consecutive years - for no fewer than nine months each year.
The central government will provide a one-off subsidy of 1 million yuan (US$159,000) for each expert.
Applicants must have obtained doctorates from overseas universities.
