Express green cards for foreign spouses of top Chinese talent

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Beijing is offering streamlined permanent residency for the foreign spouses and children of top-tier Chinese talent at the capital’s hi-tech hub as it tries to recruit skilled professionals.

The benefits for workers at the Zhongguancun Science Park – an area with ambitions to be “China’s Silicon Valley” – are similar to concessions already in place for foreign specialists.

The municipal government announced last week that Chinese citizens who worked in the park and qualified as “high-level talent” could apply for green cards for their foreign spouses and children through a streamlined scheme.

It comes six years after the central government first gave the go-ahead for such applications but until now the process was complicated.

Under the new system, applications would be processed in Zhongguancun within 50 working days, instead of the usual 180 days, the park’s management committee said without specifying a start date.

Permanent residency has long been the exception rather than the rule for foreigners in China.

According to a 2011 national census, there were more than 600,000 citizens of other countries living on the mainland, but in the first decade after the green card scheme was launched in 2004, just 7,356 were issued the documents – most of them working in government departments or laboratories involved in “key national projects”.

China has eased restrictions in recent years, expanding the professional fields in the quest for expertise.

In 2016, the country extended eligibility for permanent residency to foreigners working in a greater range of areas.

Wang Xi, deputy director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau’s Exit and Entry Administration, said 662 foreigners filed permanent residency applications in Beijing last year, up from 598 in 2016 and triple the number lodged in 2015.

Miao Lu, secretary general of the Beijing-based Centre for China and Globalisation, said the latest move would not have a big impact on the absolute number of applications but it was an important sign that China was working to lure global talent.

“While US President Donald Trump is curbing immigration, China is sending a signal to the world that it is making it more convenient for global talent, telling them that they can come to realise their dreams here,” Miao said.

She said other cities could follow Zhongguancun’s lead.

“Various cities have been exploring new policies over the past years and they can influence each other,” Miao said.

Shanghai free-trade zone started streamlining applications from foreign workers in April.

Marketing executive Wang Lili, who has lived in Belgium for seven years and has a Belgian husband, said the new rule would be useful for her family, but there were other things to consider.

“It is attractive to me, but the top thing is whether my husband can find a better job in China than the one he has now. Also I’ll need to be sure we can afford a home,” Wang said.

中关村推出绿卡”直通车” 努力吸引全球人才

为招募有技能的专业人士，北京将让志在成为”中国硅谷”的中关村高层次人才的外籍配偶和子女可以通过简化程序申请永久居留证，这一福利类似于目前为外籍专家放宽的条件。

北京市政府上周宣布，中关村的”高层次人才”可以通过直通车程序为外籍配偶和子女申请中国绿卡，中关村会在50个工作日，而不是通常规定的180天内处理相关申请，不过管委会没有透露具体从什么时候开始实行新政。

根据2011年人口普查的结果，生活在中国内地的外国公民超过60万人，不过在2004年颁布绿卡审批管理办法后的第一个十年期间，只有7356名外籍人士拿到了中国绿卡——他们中的大多数人都是在政府部门或与”国家重点项目”相关的实验室工作。

近年来，中国放宽了限制，将发放绿卡的范围扩展到其他一些领域，以寻求相关的技能。2016年，中国允许更大范围的外籍人士申请永久居留。

北京市公安局出入境管理总队相关人士说，2017年有662名外籍人士在北京提交永久居留申请，高于2016年的598人，是2015年提交申请人数的三倍。

设在北京的中国与全球化智库的秘书长苗绿说，最新举措不会对提交申请的绝对数量产生重大影响，不过这是中国努力吸引全球人才的重要迹象。

苗绿说：”美国总统特朗普正在控制移民，而中国则向全世界发出信号，表示正在为全球人才提供更加便利的条件，告诉他们可以来中国实现自己的梦想。”

她表示，其他城市可以效仿中关村的做法，”最近几年来，许多城市都在探索这方面的新政，它们会相互影响。”

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