KUNMING — A series of agreements have been signed at an international talent exchange conference in Southwest China’s Yunnan province.

The agreements focus on cooperation in education, medicine and scientific research, according to the organizer of the 3rd Yunnan International Talent Exchange Conference.

The four-day conference, which concluded on June 14 in Kunming, capital of Yunnan, attracted more than 600 people from over 40 countries and regions.

Yunnan is a gateway connecting China with South and Southeast Asia. International talent exchange will make the province a pivot of opening up to South and Southeast Asia, according to the conference organizer.

First held in 2016, the conference has brokered more than 160 introductions, attracting more than 170 high-level overseas staff to Yunnan.

In March, Yunnan eased visa applications for skilled workers with visas for high-end talent valid for up to 10 years with multiple entries and 180-day stays for a single entry.

Yunnan also launched a “Thousand Talents Plan” this year, including 1 million yuan (about $156,000) of living subsidies and project funding of up to 30 million yuan.

“Yunnan is at a critical stage of economic restructuring and upgrading,” said Ruan Chaoqi, director of the Yunnan provincial administration of foreign expert affairs.

German botanist Harald Schneider has worked in Yunnan for 10 years and entered the “Thousand Talents Plan” this year.

“I really enjoy my work in Yunnan. It’s exciting to be in a place with such abundant biological resources,” said Schneider, head of a research program in the Chinese Academy of Sciences Xishuangbanna tropical botanical garden.

“Local officials are increasing financial support to researchers, which will attract more overseas talent to work here,” said Schneider. There are already more than 4,500 foreign experts in Yunnan.