China working on new office to lure overseas talent

Beijing

CHINA is setting up its first immigration office, according to people with knowledge of the plans, as President Xi Jinping seeks overseas talent to help drive the transition of an economy led by consumer spending and innovation.

Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun, who doubles as a state councillor, disclosed the move earlier this year at an internal meeting about a wider overhaul of domestic security services, said the people, who asked not be identified because the plans are not public. The office would be created by merging and expanding the ministry's border control and exit-entry administration bureaus and could be set up before the end of the year, they said.