Policy pilot focuses mainly on the development potential of startups and recruitment of talent

Ahmed Alsayadi, a 31-year-old entrepreneur from Al Bayda, Yemen, has been living in China for more than a decade. But, like many young foreigners in Beijing, he had been unable to get permanent residency because of the high qualification criteria.

"I have been keeping an eye on China's green card policy," says Alsayadi, co-founder of A Big Dream Entertainment, a big-data consultancy service.

Generally, "if a foreigner wants to apply, he or she has to have direct investment in China or be paying a large amount of personal income tax, which is difficult for me", he says.

However, Alsayadi saw a news report on television last year that said foreign workers at startups, or who have been hired by companies in Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park, could get a recommendation letter for a so-called green card if they met standards of a merit-based point system.

Alsayadi, whose company's market value is estimated at around 100 million yuan ($14.5 million; 13.4 million euros; 11.6 million), immediately submitted his documents and got a recommendation letter.

China began issuing permanent residence permits in 2004. However, the green card is among the most difficult in the world to obtain, due to the high requirements involved. Between 2004 and 2015, Beijing issued only 1,700 permanent residence permits.

To attract more foreign talent and facilitate the development of Zhongguancun, Beijing started a pilot project in March last year that enables foreign startups or skilled professionals in the science park to apply for permanent residence.

The pilot program's first group of 45 foreigners, including Alsayadi, each gained more than 70 of 100 possible points under the merit system and received recommendation letters in January. Points are based on such factors as education, experience and the demand for certain technological know-how.

Guo Hong, director of the management committee of Zhongguancun, says the program is China's first trial for evaluating and introducing foreign talent pragmatically.

Zhang Wenqiong, deputy director of the Zhongguancun Talent Center, says the policy focuses mainly on the development potential of startups, along with other factors.

Zheng Jinlian, deputy secretary-general of the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing think tank, says foreigners now have two windows of opportunity a year to apply for permanent residence.

"The whole process, from collecting application materials to completing assessment, takes four months," she says. "We have a group of more than 100 experts to review the application materials."

Wang Huiyao, director of the Center for China and Globalization, says the new avenue to permanent residency shows the world that China is further opening up and placing more attention on talent recruitment.

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Ways to get green card

As well as obtaining permanent residence by accumulating points, there are four ways an expatriate in Beijing can apply for a Chinese "green card".

1. Overseas Chinese employed by enterprises in the high-tech hub of Zhongguancun who have doctorate degrees or have worked four consecutive years and lived more than six months every year in China can apply.

2. Foreign residents who have worked in Beijing for four consecutive years, received an annual salary during that time of at least 500,000 yuan before tax, have lived more than six months every year in China, and have a stable income and residence can apply.

3. Foreigners who have paid more than 100,000 yuan in personal income tax every year with recommendation from a local employer can apply.

4. "High-end foreign experts" with recognition from the Beijing city human resources authority and high-end professional workers hired on a five-year working permit by a local company with recognition from the capital's technology and innovation authority can apply for permanent residency after three years working in China, upon recommendation from a local employer.