Time: June 16   

Pudong New Area has issued nine new policies and set up its first "overseas talent bureau" to help employers in the Shanghai business hub attract and retain skilled workers from overseas, local media reported on June 16.

The government has created the new bureau to make the processing of work permits for foreign workers more efficient. It will also be responsible for handling applications for Chinese permanent residence permits, or "Chinese green cards", as well as testing out innovative methods for streamlining administration services.

The district has also introduced a number of important measures designed to make it easier for foreign talent to find work and start businesses in Pudong.

Foreign students will now be able to work legally in Pudong and pursue entrepreneurial projects in their spare time, while they will now be able to gain a Chinese work permit as soon as they graduate. Previously, anyone seeking to gain a work permit required at least two years of professional experience.

Pudong also plans to launch a "1+X" policy review that is intended to introduce wide-ranging reforms to the way it deals with overseas talent.

The "1" refers to an overarching review of the area's policies toward overseas talent to identify potential institutional reforms and ideas for new policies to make the district more attractive to highly-skilled foreign workers. The "X" indicates the specific reforms that will be carried out after the review.

Details of the nine policies:

1. Fast-track the issuing of permanent residence permits for people working in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone who have been recommended to receive a permit.

2. Standardize the process for overseas Chinese to apply for permanent residence permits.

3. Relax the requirement to apply for visa for innovative scientific professionals for overseas talent recommended by the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

4. Allow foreign students to pursue entrepreneurial projects part-time.

5. Relax restrictions on the employment of foreign students.

6. Allow graduates of overseas universities to obtain employment in China directly after graduation.

7. Make qualification requirements for foreign professional talent more flexible.

8. Set up an "overseas talent bureau" in Pudong New Area.

9. A "ban on saying no" requiring staff at visa application centers to provide applicants with clear information about their applications.