Visa and green card rules will be eased for outstanding graduates from top foreign universities who come to work in Shanghai, police said yesterday.

Such graduates, providing they meet the criteria required, will be able to apply for a two-year residence permit in Shanghai within two years after graduation and to apply for a Chinese green card after working in the city for three years.

This is one of the new visa policies to be implemented in Shanghai this year aimed at attracting more foreign talent to the city with regard to its ambition of becoming a global technology and innovation hub.

The policies apply to foreign talent who work for companies or institutions within Shanghai National Innovation Demonstration Zone, Shanghai Free Trade Zone and “entrepreneurship and innovation demonstration bases,” in Shanghai approved by China’s State Council.

Starting from this year, green card rules will benefit not only leading foreign experts in top science and technology research teams but also their fellow foreign team members.

The leading experts will be given a say in recommending up to six other key foreign team members to apply for a Chinese green card, according to the rule.

Also, foreign talent will be allowed to work part-time for other companies or institutions.

Lars Danielson, chairman of several companies within the Volvo Car Group and former chief executive of Volvo Car Asia Pacific, said the new policy is a very good initiative to help young foreign talent to work in China.

The automobile industry has been growing rapidly over the past 15 years, and it has need of foreign expertise “as all major international players are here and local Chinese start-ups are catching up,” he said.

Danielson, who has been living and working in Shanghai since 2011, obtained his Chinese green card last autumn.

“Living in Shanghai makes life in China a lot easier because the city has very good schools and medical support,” he said.

Chen Ying, director of the Talent and Education Department of Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, said she expects the policy to boost the institute’s hunt for top talent from around the world.

“The eased green card rules will help us build up international expert teams more quickly, and enabling foreign experts to work for more than one company and institution can help increase the efficiency of turning research results into products,” she said.

Gao Ziping, director of the Research Center for Overseas Talent Information of the Institute of Information at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said China and its top-tier cities like Shanghai are increasingly making themselves more attractive to global talent.

“Top talent eye top platforms for innovation and industry development and markets, and that’s what Shanghai and China are offering to the world,” he said.

The new measures will be implemented later this year when all details of implementation are worked out in coordination with other government institutions, police said.

The measures are a part of the city’s five-year plan from 2017 to 2021 to further ease visa rules for top foreign talent.

The plan was prepared by the national Ministry of Public Security and Shanghai government.

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