Work and visa restrictions are loosened to allow more expats to settle in the city and offer their talents and expertise

Attracting creative talents from abroad to form an innovative friendly atmosphere in Shanghai is the main focus of a newly released proposal to transform the city into a global technological innovation center.

The proposal puts forth 22 measures.

Beneficial policies including providing permanent residential permits for high-level overseas passport holders and giving subsidies to high-tech professionals have been carried out to open Shanghai's door wider to the world.

"Shanghai will be the pioneer to have a breakthrough in implementing more open and effective policies to recruit more talents from abroad and offer them with a more convenient life here," said Zhou Haiyang, director of Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.

Zhou added that the detailed rules and conditions of the measures on how to attract talents from all over the world would be released within this year.

The high-level talents who have permanent jobs in Shanghai will get the privilege of obtaining the foreign expert permit within two to five years (previously seven years) and will see loosened restrictions on age from 60 to 70 years old. The requirement for technology and innovation talents will be lowered to have a more comprehensive system of permanent residential permit, with a valid period of up to 10 years (previously five years), according to the detailed measures issued in early June.

The looser policy to welcome more high-tech expats to work and settle down in the city will directly affect those companies relying on recruitments of foreign talents.

"It is great news for our company, to hire foreign or overseas-returned experts regularly, which will help us focus on learning the advanced technology from the Western countries and creating our own medical products for patients," said Lyu Songtao, chairman of Shanghai Green Valley Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, which has its research team of mostly overseas returnees.

The city will also loosen employment policies for overseas candidates and give international students the chance to work in the expanded China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone as a trial.

"With the rise of international universities such as New York University Shanghai, more international students are willing to work in Shanghai," said Xiao Lin, director of Shanghai Municipal People's Government Development Research Center.

New York University Shanghai recruited its first 300 students with half of them being international students. The current number of international students at the school is in the hundreds but is expected to peak at 1,000 by 2020. According to the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, there were more than 53,800 international students studying in Shanghai in 2013, 30 percent more than in 2010.

"I chose NYU Shanghai as I wanted to get away from my own country and explore a totally different culture to challenge myself before turning 18. I learned how to be a leader and communicate with people from different cultural backgrounds here," said Haider Ali, a freshman from Pakistan who spent one year studying in Germany before applying to NYU Shanghai.

It used to be impossible for newly graduated foreign students to work in China. According to the regulations of the Bureau of Exit and Entry Administration of the Ministry of Public Security, foreigners with at least two years of work experience aged between 24 and 60 are able to apply for a work permit in China.

"I am looking forward to graduate in three years and found my own company here in Shanghai, which seems to be a more friendly city for foreign students to start up businesses offering greater support," said Ali.

yuran@chinadaily.com.cn