Skilled Migrants Wanted? Policy Tensions in the Implementation of Shanghai's “New Talent Regime”

As part of a geopolitical competition for talent, China is often portrayed as especially proactive in its state efforts to attract skilled migrants from around the world. In contrast to this outside view of technocratically executed talent schemes, this article investigates the contested implementation of China's skilled migration reforms in Shanghai, the country's top immigrant destination. It investigates the selective implementation of Shanghai's “new talent regime,” a set of experimental policies focused on improving skilled migrant attraction. The analysis shows that while Shanghai has built an ambitious skilled migration programme on paper, the extent of its implementation has been mixed. Specifically, state actors differentiate between policies deemed in line with longstanding policy goals, which they implement proactively, and more innovative policies, which they implement mainly on a performative level. I argue that this risk-averse policy attitude can be traced to policy centralization and an emerging (re-)politicization of immigration policy.