City a magnet for top talents

Fifty-two foreign experts have received top talent confirmation letters from local administrators ever since the Shanghai municipal government adopted the new foreign talent visa policy on Jan 1.

The confirmation letter makes it easier for foreigners to get the R visa which is issued to high-level personnel and top talents. Holders of this visa are permitted to stay in China for 180 days at a time and make multiple entries into the country for up to 10 years.

The previous limit was five years. Spouses and children of the applicants will receive the same visa.

About 16 percent of the work visas issued by Shanghai last year were R visas, far above the national level.

According to the Shanghai Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, two of the 52 experts won the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award last year.

Six of them are directors or fellows at overseas research institutes while two of them currently assume senior management positions at global research centers of multinational companies. The remaining experts hold senior management positions at the companies in the demonstration zones for entrepreneurship and innovation in Shanghai.

Foreigners who qualify as top talents would receive the letter within five days after application. Huang Hong, deputy director of the Shanghai Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, said that foreign professionals can receive their visas as soon as the next day in their own countries after obtaining the letter. Following that, they would be issued a Chinese work permit three days after entering Shanghai.

This new visa policy has made life more convenient for Yang Bo, who started his own company in the incubator community InnoSpace Plus in northeast Shanghai's Yangpu district five years ago. Yang took up Singapore citizenship in 2012 after completing his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the country.

Because of this, Yang had to renew his work visa every year to continue working in China. He said that the entire process could take up to a month.

"Whenever I needed to change my personal address or telephone number, I would have to go through the process all over again, which is really time-consuming. But now with the new policy, everything can be done within a shorter time," he said.

Yang added that this new policy would be useful to top talent who are looking to establish companies in China.

He explained that most foreign entrepreneurs usually require two to three months in the country to study the local market and seek financing opportunities. Previously, they had to apply for tourist visas which allow them to stay for a maximum of 30 days. They would then have to leave China and reapply for another tourist visa before they can re-enter.

According to Chen Lu, director of the Exit-Entry Administration Bureau at Yangpu district, foreigners can now obtain a work visa when they enter the city as long as they can show proof that they will be working at the demonstration zones for entrepreneurship and innovation.