What’s foreign talents’ role in China’s growth?

Former NBA All-Star player Stephon Marbury received his permanent residence permit of China in 2016. Previously, he led the Beijing basketball team to win three China Basketball Association championships. Marbury was the first active athlete to receive a Chinese green card before his retirement in 2018.

Kurt Wuthrich, a 79-year-old Swiss scientist and Nobel laureate in Chemistry, became a Shanghai permanent resident in April 2018 for building the first nuclear magnetic resonance laboratory at Shanghai Tech University.

Foreign talents have played not only an important role in China’s economic success but also diversified the Chinese talent pool. As China becomes more open and embraces globalization more deeply, the demand for international talents is growing.

Therefore, the Chinese government has rolled out a series of policies to attract more foreign talents.

China began to issue talent visas for foreigners from March 2018. Foreigners who meet the standards stated in the Classified Standards for Foreigners Working in China (trial implementation) and fulfill the market demand for “high-tech, cutting-edge, sophisticated and rare” talents can apply for the talent visa or the R Visa. They can be scientists, science and technology leaders, entrepreneurs, specialists and high-level technicians, the categories of people urgently needed in China.

The government has extended the duration of their stay. Qualified foreigners can be issued a five-year or 10-year R Visa with multiple entries and can stay up to 180 days during each visit. Their spouses and minor children can also get visas with the same validity period and multiple entries.

The visa process has been shortened, too. Foreign talents can get their qualification confirmed in five working days. High-skilled professionals, their spouses and minor children could gain the same visa as early as the day after filing applications. Moreover, there is no visa fee.

Last year, the State Immigration Administration was set up under the Ministry of Public Security, integrating the entry/exit management and border inspection departments. This has made the management more systematic and streamlined and simplified the procedure to approve foreigners’ permanent residence permit applications.

The new body approved 1,881 applications for permanent residency within two months of its establishment. It had taken the previous department a year to approve the same number of applications in 2017.

China is attracting more foreign talents thanks to its sustained opening-up and stable development. It will continue to welcome global talents following the principle of inclusiveness and commitment to opening up wider.