China seeks to lure talent by easing green card system

EditorInChief · 06-29-2014, 01:18 PM

BEIJING — After 14 years in China, American pianist and teacher Lea Gentile plans to establish a specialized music school here, modeled after one in her native North Carolina. That is, unless she is forced to leave China next summer.

Gentile turns 65 next June and will be too old, under Chinese rules, to secure another work permit. "I'd have to give up the dream, but I want to do so much more in China," she says.

Visas allowing foreigners to stay and work here are usually short-term and linked to an employer, while green cards for long-term residency are rarely granted. People like Gentile have to renew their visa, or work permit, every year.

Now Communist Party chief Xi Jinping may have thrown Gentile a lifeline. After he praised foreign experts who come to China and called for a more open immigration policy to attract "outstanding talent," China announced this month that it may lower its approval thresholds for green cards.

Changes could help to reverse China's so-called brain drain, which the state-run Xinhua News Agency recently described as "still grave." More flexible and pragmatic rules for acquiring green cards are being considered, Xinhua reported this month. Current requirements include investing more than $500,000 here and having a high-level professional title.

Chinese media describe the country's green card as "the hardest to get in the world," with just 4,700 issued since China began offering them in 2004. The United States issues about 1 million green cards each year. Chinese recipients numbered almost 72,000 last year, second only to Mexico, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Only about 800,000 foreigners live legally in China, according to the Centre for China and Globalization in Beijing. The government used the 2008 Olympics and other events to proclaim China's openness, but foreigners still encounter a system and society that remain highly suspicious of non-Chinese.

In a recent survey of U.S. companies and individuals by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, 37% of respondents found it harder to get visas for foreign workers, and 41% thought foreign business is less welcome in China.

"The atmosphere has become much more hostile to foreigners," says Anne Stevenson-Yang, 55, a U.S. citizen and 25-year resident of Beijing who runs an economic research firm. She says authorities are more restrictive on work visas. The mind-set seems to be that "foreigners cause trouble, they're suspicious, they 'undermine China,' why have them?" Stevenson-Yang says.

Beijing's new interest in green cards may be spurred by the hope of increased tax revenues and access to the applicants' international assets, she says.

"China is no exception to the general rule that if a country is interested in soliciting you, you can be sure it's about capturing your money," says Stevenson-Yang, who doubts that China will significantly increase the number of green cards it issues.

The lucky few who have secured green cards say the only benefit is avoiding the annual visa renewals. Chinese banks, hospitals and other service agencies don't recognize or accept the green card, which must be renewed after 10 years, Turkish banker Noyan Rona tells the China Daily newspaper.

Some long-term expatriates seek not just the convenience of a green card, but also a sense of belonging.

"I've put half my life into China and my business. It would be nice to have recognition for the work I do and the people I employ," says Dominic Johnson-Hill, 41, a British entrepreneur and founder of the Plastered clothing brand.

"We are very emotionally connected to China," says Johnson-Hill, a 20-year Beijing resident, whose four children were all born in China. "I want them to have a sense of belonging. I deserve more than a two-year visa," which he gets as a business owner.

China is working on a point assessment system to evaluate foreign applicants, and it will maintain its principle of "attracting top talent, controlling the ordinary and cracking down on the illegal," says Zhang Jianguo, head of the government agency that approves "foreign experts" to work in China.

Ivo Botto, a metals expert in casting and welding from Pennsylvania, says he might apply for a Chinese green card after a year of working for a heavy industry company in Luoyang in central China.

Chinese people "are hungry for knowledge and want more people to come teach them," says Botto, 59. "I have absolutely no complaints whatsoever. China today in some aspects is even better than in the USA," he says, citing its high-speed rail network and modern airports.