By the end of 2004, the employees in the 38,565 enterprises inside State High-tech Zones reached 4.484 million, an increase of 0.53 million compared with the previous year, i.e. 13%. The personnel structure is being gradually rationalized and their overall qualifications have been further enhanced.

1. Structure of the employees

The State High-tech Zones are important gathering places of S&T talents especially high-tech talents.  Statistics of 2004 reveal that there are 1.23 million S&T personnel of various sectors among the employees in the High-tech Zones, of which 0.65 million hold middle and senior rank technical titles and 0.575 million with primary titles, making title holders account for 27% of the employee aggregate.

Among these employees, 74,000 are postgraduates, 843,000 undergraduates, 791,000 junior college graduates and 854,000 technical secondary school graduates. Together they amount to 2,562,000 people, accounting for 57.1% of the total employees.

2. Employment of graduating college students

In 2004, the State High-tech Zones recruited 140,000 graduating students, 1/4 plus of newly recruited employees. Thirteen State High-tech Zones respectively recruited over 3,000 graduating students. The enterprises in Beijing Zhongguancun Science Park alone recruited 33,000 graduating students.

3. Recruitment of returned overseas Chinese students

The 53 State High-tech Zones recruited a total of 15,900 returned overseas Chinese students, which account for 0.4% of all the employees. Among them 12,300 hold master's degrees, accounting for 77.4% of all the returned overseas Chinese students in the High-tech Zones. Presently, every one of these 53 State High-tech Zones has returned overseas Chinese students, 18 of which have more than 200 such returned students.

4. Participants in S&T activities

A large number of the employees participate in S&T activities and they are an important force in the innovative development of the enterprises in the High-tech Zones. In 2004, 725,000 people from the 38,565 enterprises in the State High-tech Zones participated in S&T activities, accounting for 16.2% of the total employees. Among these participants, 270,000 hold the technical titles of middle and senior rank and 250,000 hold no technical titles but have undergraduate or higher diplomas. 518,000 of them are engaged in full time R&D, accounting for 71.4% of all participants in S&T activities.