Long Denggao, a professor at Tsinghua University's Center for Chinese Entrepreneur Studies, said that the recent reform will make it more convenient for foreigners, especially overseas Chinese to live permanently in China, and encourage technology and investment inflow.

Nonetheless, Long said that currently, the threshold for permanent residency is still too high and he wishes the criteria could be further lowered.

Talent strategy

Permanent residency has become an important arrangement to attract international expertise, said officials from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recently.

China is geared toward creating a highly skilled work force and transforming its labor-intensive economy into a talent-rich one. Chinese leaders attach great importance to attracting talented people from all over the world.

China launched the Recruitment Program of Global Experts (1,000 Talents Program) in 2008, which aims to recruit about 2,000 top-notch scientists to work in China within 10 years. Provincial and municipal governments have launched similar programs.

So far, more than 2,700 highly talented people have been recruited under the Central Government's program. Since 2009, local governments have also recruited more than 20,000 people under their programs, reported Xinhua News Agency.

Most of the international experts recruited so far are overseas returnees. Since China implemented the reform and opening-up policy, more than 10 million people have left the country to study or work abroad, many of whom have obtained foreign permanent residency or citizenship, said Wang Huiyao, Director of the Center for China and Globalization and Vice President of China Western Returned Scholars Association. " Nonetheless, many overseas Chinese are still emotionally attached to China, and wish to have the chance to work and live in China," he said.

Overseas Chinese are by far not the only group targeted by the 1,000 Talents Program. One sub-program, the Recruitment Program of 1,000 Foreign Experts launched in 2011, aims to recruit leading experts in science and technology who are not ethnic Chinese.

The program accepts applications from professors in prestigious foreign universities and research fellows of major institutes as well as specialists and senior managers of financial institutions, intellectual property holders and other professionals with innovative expertise needed in China.

It requires recruited experts to work in China for at least three consecutive years, and for no fewer than nine months each year.

Experts recruited under the program will be granted a lump sum subsidy of 1 million yuan ($160,600), and those conducting research, especially basic research, will receive research funding ranging from 3 million-5 million yuan ($481,800-$802,900).

These experts and their spouses and minor children are eligible to apply for Chinese permanent residency or multiple-entry visa valid for two to five years.

As of December 2012, a total of 94 foreign experts had been recruited by the program, according to a statement issued by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

Zhang Jianguo, director of the administration, said that nearly 530,000 foreign experts were working in China in 2011, whereas the number was only about 10,000 in the late 1970s.

Email us at: wanghairong@bjreview.com

Rights of Chinese Green Card Holders

- Permanent residents can participate in all of China's five social insurance programs—endowment, healthcare, unemployment, workrelated injury and maternity, and enjoy corresponding benefits.

- Green card holders are exempt from a ban on foreigners who have worked or studied less than a year in China from buying property.

- Permanent residents can work in China without a work permit.

- Children of permanent residents may attend school in their place of residence, and they will not be charged any fees except a statutory sum.

- They can enjoy simplified investment and registration procedures if they want to invest in or set up a business.

- Spouses and immediate family members of permanent residents can apply for visas, residence permits or green cards.

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)