China woos top researchers with fast-track visas

The Chinese government has granted residency rights to two European Nobel laureates, as its effort to attract international talent continue to advance.

Dutch chemist Ben Feringa, who won the Nobel prize for chemistry in 2016, has taken up the right to reside in China and will head up a team at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported on 26 November. Shanghai has launched a research centre attached to the university in Feringa’s name.

A second Nobel laureate in chemistry, Kurt Wüthrich from Switzerland, was also granted residency rights in China and appointed head of a research team at ShanghaiTech University, according to the newspaper.