ID cards and 'talent ranking' for new foreigner work permits

In an effort to attract more foreign talent, keep out the undesirables and make everything a bit simpler (supposedly), Chinese authorities have announced a new streamlined work permit system involving foreigners being ranked according to 'talent'.

Foreigners will also be issued with ID cards under reforms that will see China's current two slightly confusing work permit options unified into one hopefully simpler process.

Doing away with the two current application routes - either an employment permit via the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security or a foreign expert certificate from the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA), there will now only be one work permit on offer to foreigners.

As part of the new application, foreigners will be sorted into category A, B or C - with A as top talent, B as professional talent, and C as unskilled workers or those working in the service industry. According to Sina, the aim is to attract the Class As, control the Class Bs, and restrict the Class Cs.

How will they work out the category? According to Global Times, factors such as salary, educational background, time spent in China, Chinese language proficiency and where the foreigner has worked in China (with work in less developed regions being rewarded) will be considered.

In a piece of good news, the new photo ID cards for foreigners will serve a similar function to the ID cards issued to Chinese citizens, and will be able to be used for services such as banking, buying train tickets as well as travel around China.

The new rules will be rolled out in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanghai, Anhui, Shandong, Guangdong, Sichuan and Ningxia from October 2016 to March 2017 before being made applicable nationwide in April.

Authorities promise they will be providing foreigners with guides as to what is required for the new permit. Foreign citizens can expect to be issued with temporary paper cards in the trial months before permanent IDs are issued in April. And they can start preparing for some 'healthy rivalry' with friends about who is in which category.

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