Shanghai home to largest foreign worker population in China

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Shanghai has topped the country in terms of the number of foreign workers, with its population of foreigners accounting for 23.7 percent of the national total of more than 900,000, said the municipal administration of foreign expert affairs at a symposium on Tuesday.

The symposium gathered foreign researchers, corporate executives and university professors in the city to discuss ways of further developing Shanghai into a global innovation center of science and technology.

According to the administration, as of the end of 2018, there were 215,000 foreigners living in the city with work visas, with about 18,000 of them considered to be high-level talents, the most across the country.

Ranga Vellamore, co-founder of Zeta-V Technologies Limited, suggested that the city can attract more high-calibre workers from abroad by building more professional incubators in the areas such as robotics, internet-of-things and artificial intelligence.

Having lived in the city for 12 years, Vellamore said Shanghai is already one of the most livable cities in the world, and it should aim to double its foreign population over the next four to five years.

Ourania Katavouta, a professor of Greek language at the Shanghai International Studies University, proposed that Shanghai's junior and senior high schools could introduce more foreign language courses to foster more cultural diversity in the city.

Other suggestions at the symposium include providing English information and application forms for government R&D programs and allowing foreigners to lead such programs overseas.

Shanghai has been one of the pilot cities for foreigner work permit reforms since 2016. The city has over the past few years introduced a series of measures to improve matters in this area, such as streamlining the application process and introducing new visa categories.

Shanghai has for the past six years been ranked as the most attractive city for overseas talent in China by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

Tianjin is a choice destination for expatriates and investors worldwide and about 30-40k expats call Tianjin their home, making the 8th city in China with more foreign workers. The cost of living in Tianjin is also much cheaper compared to first-tier cities, but the city hosts numerous big companies and industries recruiting expats and it shouldn’t be difficult for a foreign professional to find a job in Tianjin.

上海成为外籍人才眼中最具吸引力城市，逾21万外国人在沪工作

在沪高层次外国专家代表座谈会1月15日举行，在国家外国专家局主办、完全由外籍人士投票产生的“魅力中国——外籍人才眼中最具吸引力的中国城市”评选中，上海已连续6年排名第一。此次倾听高层次外国专家的意见建议，旨在进一步提升上海创新环境，吸引外国专家来沪工作和生活。

据国家外国专家局统计，目前在沪工作的外国人数量为21.5万，占全国的23.7%，居全国首位。自2016年外国人来华工作许可制度在沪试点实施以来，截至去年底，本市共办理外国人来华工作许可证10万余份，其中外国高端人才（A类）逾1.8万份，占比超过18%。

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