(File photo/Chinanews.com)
(ECNS) -- Air pollution and sky-high housing prices might be causing talented professionals to flee Beijing, according to a recent report.
Jointly published by the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences and Social Sciences Academic Press, the Blue Book of Beijing: Annual Report on Social Development studied the capital's social structure, development, community governance and problems over the past year.
Air pollution and soaring housing prices may have caused an outflow of talent to other Chinese cities or overseas, the report said, taking Zhongguancun, a zone for innovation and high-tech industries in Beijing, as example.
The number of R&D staff members in the zone increased 4.7 percent from 548,000 to 574,000 in 11 months during 2016, it was said, far lower than the 23.1 percent growth in 2015.
High-quality talents are spoilt for choice in China and overseas countries, with key policies to attract them including various job opportunities and controllable living costs, the report said.
Rising property prices and poor air quality, however, do the opposite, which may affect Beijing's social development over the long term. Air pollution may also deprive people of a sense of belonging to the metropolis.
The report suggested the capital try to control living costs and improve the environment to encourage talent inflow to emerging sectors that would become a direct driving force city development.
Other measures including curbing speculative investment in real estate, regulating the housing rental market and improving transport will also make the city more attractive to talent, the report said.
