Photo: VCG

To keep more talents from leaving the province, East China's Anhui announced on Monday plans to carry out a marriage assistance project for college students. The announcement sparked the online discussion on key factors to retain talents.

The provincial department of human resources and social security said that it will carry out a series of activities to keep talents in the province, including "holding online dating activities, strengthening guidance to women's federations at all levels, the publication of magazines on topics such as love, marriage and family, and providing opportunities for college students in Anhui to communicate and improve the probability of a successful marriage match."

The measures were put forward by the department in a reply to Li Yuyun, a provincial political advisor who proposed a project to keep university graduates in Anhui.

The province will "further improve the supportive measures for college students to stay in Anhui to work or start businesses," reads the reply.

In addition to the marriage assistance project, the provincial department will hold job fairs for students, encourage institutes to adopt more flexible and effective ways to attract talents, implement policies on subsidies for graduates who want to work in public administration and social services agencies at the community level, and provide affordable housing for graduates.

The reply has sparked a heated discussion on China's social platform Sina Weibo on key factors to retain talents.

"Should the government keep talents by marriage? I think we should rely on employment," said one netizen.

"To keep talents rely on employment, environment and house prices. Stop acting like a human trafficker," said another.

Global Times