The fourth Shandong talent innovation and development conference and the 14th overseas high-level talents exchanges will begin in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province, in mid-May. It aims to expand the province's talent pool to boost innovative development.

Held every two years since 2020, previous sessions have attracted over 280 top global talents and facilitated more than 8,600 talent-driven projects in Shandong.

This year's event will feature an opening ceremony with keynote speeches from leading scientists and industry figures, with the tagline "talent leading innovation, openness empowering development". A series of parallel forums will cover cutting-edge fields such as next-generation information technology, the modern marine industry, modern agriculture, and healthcare.

To attract top talent, the conference will host five major competitions, including a high-level talent entrepreneurship contest and a postdoctoral innovation competition. Nine matchmaking events will also be held to facilitate regional cooperation and industry-academia collaboration across the Yellow River Basin and between Beijing and Shandong.