Beijing Review – August 15, 2019

http://www.bjreview.com AUGUST 15, 2019 BEIJING REVIEW 29

Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo

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stringent requirements. The applicants either
had to have made significant contributions
to China; held high-level positions in govern-
ment departments or laboratories involved
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or invested at least $500,000 in west China
or poor regions, $1 million in central China
or $2 million in other areas for at least three
consecutive years.
These requirements made obtaining
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procedures in the world.
So far, holders of the Chinese green card
include Bernard Lucas Feringa, winner of the
2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Kurt Wüthrich,
winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in
2002; and Robert A. Mundell, laureate of the
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
in 1999. In 2016, Stephon Marbury, the

former U.S. National Basketball Association

All-Star, became the first foreign basketball

player to obtain Chinese residency.

As China steps up efforts to bridge

the talent gap, its permanent residence

policy has been loosened. China has issued

133,000 visas and residence permits to for-

eign entrepreneurs, investors, and technical

and management specialists over the past

few years, according to Chen Bin, an NIA of-

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PricewaterhouseCoopers and a member

of the National Committee of the Chinese

People’s Political Consultative Conference,

China’s top political advisory body, proposed

lowering the threshold for China’s green

card in March. “We should vastly increase

the number of permanent resident permits

issued to foreign professionals and attract

more of these people to come and work in

China,” he said. “They are in need not only in

developed areas and hi-tech industries, but

also in underdeveloped areas.”

Related services to facilitate their work and

life in China should also be provided along with

enhancing their sense of belonging, he added.

More choices

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in September

2017 that as the world’s largest developing

country, China is at a critical stage of economic

restructuring and upgrading. “We should not

only make use of Chinese talent resources

and market space, but also adopt a more open

policy for foreign experts,” he said.

On April 2, 2018, the NIA was established

under the MPS as a duty-specific institution

to handle residence permit applications to

make foreigners feel more welcomed in the

country. Since then, the Chinese Government

has optimized the application procedures

for foreigners by accelerating the approval of

qualified applicants. The NIA approved 1,881

permanent residence applications in two

months after its inauguration, equivalent to

the total number in 2017.

Subsequently, some cities have taken simi-

lar measures to facilitate the process for foreign

professionals to receive visas. According to a

report by Xinhua News Agency, Shenyang has

set up more than 50 service centers or stations

to provide services for foreign business people,

students and residents. By May, there had been

83 foreign students who had gotten an entre-

preneur visa in the city.

At a press conference held on July 1, the

MPS said China is considering setting up immi-

gration affairs service centers or stations in areas

with a large population of foreigners to make

their work, study and life more convenient. Q

Bernard Lucas Feringa, winner of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, receives his Chinese permanent resident permit
in Shanghai on May 2, 2018

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China has issued 133,000 visas and residence

permits to foreign entrepreneurs, investors,

and technical and management specialists over

the past few years

NATION