Foreign Talents in Nanjing: Deeper International Cooperation is More Vital Amid the Pandemic

By Xu Keyue Photo by Jin Zhaoxing

Cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Chen Xin, Vice President of Nanjing First Hospital

Several foreigners from the US, Australia, and the UK,who work and live in Nanjing, the capital city of east China’s Jiangsu province, expressed that they want to see expanded international cooperation in the field of technology, science, medicine, and the environment, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nanjing ranked seventh on the 2019 list of “The Most Attractive Chinese Cities for Expats,” released by the Foreign Talent Research Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

A reporter who interviewed several foreign senior experts in Nanjing found that the majority expressed satisfaction with life in this ancient southern Chinese city of 9 million people, and hope that political tensions between China and the US and Australia are to ease.

Dr. Michael Carmichael, a top US surgeon who works full time at the Nanjing First Hospital but who is currently based in the US due to the COVID-19 pandemic,said that “Nothing should hinder medical cooperation,”noting that enhanced medical cooperation could help warm China-US relations.

Carmichael, a world-renowned cardiovascular surgeon,became the first full-time foreign doctor in Jiangsu when he accepted his post at the Nanjing First Hospital in February 2018.

He has since received the Chinese Government Friendship Award in 2019 which is the top honor for foreign talents in China. With his help and international cooperation, more than 2,000 open-heart surgeries have been performed at Nanjing First Hospital with a success rate of over 98 percent, on a par with the best heart hospitals in the US or Europe.

Cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Chen Xin, the Vice President of Nanjing First Hospital, said that of the several foreign doctors who are currently working in Nanjing,most have not encountered many cultural barriers and have built a deep friendship with their local colleagues.

Carmichael said deepening medical cooperation and strengthening exchange are key in tackling the global public health emergency.

Although China-US ties are currently frosty and some exchanges between the two countries have been restricted, medicine has no boundaries and global medical collaboration should never be confounded by any political issue, Carmichael said. Therefore, medical cooperation can set an example for international cooperation and help warm the two major powers’ relations, he added.

American-Irish expatriate Peter Tensen is the founder of the UK-based Global Technology Innovation Partnership and CEO of Nanjing Tensen International Technology Transfer Center.

Laurence Steedman McLellan, Director of Nanjing International School

He hailed China’s huge potential in artificial intelligence (AI) and low-carbon technology in the competitive global arena.

Tensen noted that some in the US feel threatened by China’s advances in some technological areas such as AI. China has an opportunity to take the lead in sectors like clean technology and AI applications in health care, which can help the country build a positive image around the world, he said.

Now that Joe Biden has taken office, China will likely have an opportunity to rebuild the China-US relationship on more positive terms by focusing on common global challenges like tackling climate change, Tensen said. He noted that he was looking forward to the change in administration and believes Biden’s team will be more “rational” and less “short-sighted.” Tensen hopes Trump’s “America First” approach is soon replaced by “Planet First” policies.

“The kind of decoupling with China which the US has been promoting is not in either side’s strategic interest,”Tensen explained, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic has meant that the need for deeper international cooperation is more vital than ever.

Laurence Steedman McLellan, the Director of Nanjing International School, who is from Scotland, devoted himself to bridging cultural exchanges for his students from overseas, most of whom are children of foreign talents working and living in Nanjing.

The school launched Discover China Week to broaden the students’ experiences and knowledge of China.

Through the program, students can become more engaged with China in terms of its arts, history, culture,and its people, McLellan said. He called the students“friendship ambassador candidates” who could contribute to further international cooperation as adults.

“I don’t want the school to be an island of foreign students,” McLellan stated.

The reporter interviewed several foreign senior experts in Nanjing