New exit-entry requirements tested in designated area

Shanghai has been innovating policies and management systems to attract more foreign professionals, in a bid to establish a cluster of talented international people in the city's Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone. 

The city government and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs signed a cooperation agreement in October last year on building a pilot area for the introduction of international professionals to the zone. 

To date, a series of new policies either will be tested or have already been implemented in the zone. 

A one-stop services system, for example, has been set up for foreigners to apply for work and residence permits in Shanghai and to complete other formalities such as social insurance. 

The zone has established a selection system for high-level foreign experts. For those who have been selected, the zone will provide more support in terms of tailor-made laboratories and startup investment funds, as well as housing, medical care and children's education. 

The city government also built strategic cooperative relations with the Ministry of Public Security in 2015 to test new entry and exit policies designed for foreign professionals. The two also set up an office with the Zhangjiang zone's administrative committee. 

To date, 12 such new policies have been implemented, including removal of the upper age limit of 60 for introduced foreign professionals in some key industrial areas. 

High-level overseas experts can directly apply for permanent residence permits in China, with a recommendation from the administrative committee of the Zhangjiang zone. 

Foreign students can directly start their own businesses in the zone after they graduate from Chinese universities. 

Foreign professionals, hired by Chinese companies located in "mass innovation and entrepreneurship" demonstration zones approved by the State Council, can apply for an R visa for professional talent at the Shanghai port upon entry. 

From August 2015 to the end of 2016, more than 3,000 foreign experts had obtained permanent residency in the zone, accounting for 25 percent of the nation's total over the period. 

A police officer explains Shanghai's residence policies to a foreigner in Zhangjiang.