A foreign woman requests an application at a service desk in the Zhongguancun Service Hall on March 1. [Xinhua]
A new policy to facilitate foreigners entering and staying in China’s capital, especially in its high-tech center of Zhongguancun, took effect on March 1.
The policy announced by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on January 12 consists of 20 new measures, aiming to ease procedures for high-end foreign professionals, oversea Chinese, foreign students and foreign staff who work for entrepreneurial startups in the city.
A service hall set up by the MPS in Zhongguancun was put into service on Tuesday to accept and approve foreigners’ applications.
According to the policy, overseas Chinese with a doctoral degree received in other countries will be given permanent residency, no matter how long they stay in the capital. Foreigners who work for companies or startup businesses in Zhongguancun will be given a five-year residence permit. Foreign students at higher-education institutions in Beijing will be allowed to have part-time jobs and start their own businesses in Zhongguancun.
The policy marks the nation’s second pilot program, after the Shanghai Technology Innovation Center was granted 12 favorable policies in July. The move is intended to attract more high-level foreign talents to Beijing, especially to Zhongguancun which is considered "China’s Silicon Valley," and provide continuous endogenous power for the country’s scientific and technological innovation.
Wang Huiyao, director of the Center for China & Globalization (CCG), answers questions about the new policy at a seminar on March 1. [Photo by Lin Liyao/China.org.cn]
Wang Huiyao, director of the Center for China & Globalization (CCG), said, "The policy is a breakthrough and an active signal to the whole world that China will hold fast to its policies of reform and opening up."
As a leading Chinese global think tank, the CCG is the only private research institute participating in making the new policy.
"The Law on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures approved in 1979 has promoted China’s reform and opening-up and attracted numerous foreign investments," Wang said. "The pilot policy for foreign talent to enter and exit Beijing, and acquire permanent residence will woo more foreign high-end talents to the capital and speed up the country’s innovation and development. Both of them hold great significance."
"In future, Beijing’s policy is expected to be duplicated in other Chinese cities and regions, such as Qingdao, Chengdu and Ningbo, which have high-tech zones or free trade areas," said Wang.
From China.org.cn, March 2, 2016