Shanghai FTZ provides greater convenience for foreign talents

The new Lingang area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) launched 11 new policies on Sept 20 to provide greater convenience for foreign talents in high-tech innovational industries, according to authorities of the new area.

Officially launched on Aug 20, the section of the FTZ will establish an institutional system with its focus on investment and trade liberalization and set up an open industrial system with global competitiveness.

The new policies provide greater support for the introduction of foreign sci-tech talents and foreign research and innovation team members.

For foreign talents in high-tech fields hired by bodies such as research institutions, innovation platforms and State-owned enterprises, as well as those urgently needed for the development of the new area, the restrictions on age, education background and work experience can be reduced. These individuals can receive work permits of more than two years at a time according to the date of their employment contract, in order to improve the stability of work.

Leading experts in scientific research and innovation and their foreign team members can receive work permits through a green channel under the policies, according to the authorities.

Fu Guoqing, deputy director of the Shanghai Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, said that the quantity and quality of foreign experts in Shanghai rank first in the country. The number of foreigners currently working in Shanghai has reached 215,000, accounting for 23.7 percent of the country's total.

Shanghai has issued more than 160,000 work permits for foreigners, and about 30,000 of them are on the list of the city's top-level foreign talents. In 2019, Shanghai ranked the most attractive city for foreign talents for the seventh consecutive year.