China has launched a three-year action plan to nurture and attract digital talent and workers in its tilt towards an innovation-driven economy, reports the South China Morning Post, citing a Chinese government circular. China will launch an array of programmes and campaigns until 2026 to train digital engineers, technicians and workers in areas including big data, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, integrated circuits and data security.

The plan also aimed to attract foreign high-level digital talent, support overseas returnees starting innovative businesses and organise “high-level digital talent to return from overseas to serve the country”, the document said.

The action plan aims to accelerate human resource development for the digital economy, paving the way for “new productive forces” – a term coined by Chinese President Xi Jinping last year – according to the document. New productive forces mean “advanced productivity freed from traditional economic growth models” and feature “high technology, high efficiency and high quality”, Jinping said during a study session of the central Politburo earlier this year.