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On February 27 this year, the Ministry of Justice published a draft of the Regulations on the Administration of Permanent Residence of Foreigners, another important measure for China to legalize the management of foreign residents. After the release of the draft opinion, it caused a great controversy in public opinion.
The Ordinance aims to attract talent
In the past decade, overseas immigration has become the focus of media attention and a hot topic of discussion. In the impression of many Chinese people, many social elites are crossing the ocean and going to other places, and China's precious human resources are facing a loss of a certain scale. At the same time, the number of foreign residents in our country is also rising rapidly.
How to explain this seemingly contradictory migration phenomenon? Just like the trade between the two countries, the international personnel exchanges are also out of the need for mutual communication. Developed countries welcome highly skilled talent from China, and China also wants to attract entrepreneurs, employees and experts from overseas to serve the fast-growing domestic economy, especially the import and export industry that promotes international trade.
Today, China's comprehensive national strength is rising day by day, attracting more and more people from other countries to study and find employment. But even counting Hong Kong and Macau, China's foreign population does not exceed 1.5 million. For a large country of 1.4 billion people, the millions of foreign population is not commensurate with its international status, nor does it help to establish a friendly and open international image.
For a long time, the vast majority of foreign employees in China have been short-term immigrants. According to the results of the 2010 national census, less than 20% of foreign residents have lived in China for more than five years. In order to facilitate the entry and exit of foreign talents in China, and in order to attract high-end talents to settle in China, it is indeed necessary for the government to introduce regulations on permanent residence. Although China announced a program for permanent residents similar to the U.S. "green card" policy in 2004, only a few thousand people have been eligible for permanent residence. The Regulations on the Administration of Permanent Residence of Foreigners, which solicited opinions, have slightly loosened the previous strict regulations and are generally adapted to China's current stage of development.
Some of the thresholds of the Regulations are higher than those of the United States
The draft regulations clearly draw on the immigration policies of developed countries, but most of the specific provisions are higher than the standards of other countries.
For example, although the United States is a traditional immigrant country, its immigration system is not relaxed because of the large number of people in the world who have moved into the country. Compared with the country's immigration policy, we can see how strict the regulations are.
U.S. green card programs based on vocational competencies fall into three categories, with the third requiring only an undergraduate degree, and even unskilled workers in labor-shortage industries have the opportunity to obtain a green card. If the Regulations are implemented, China's selectivity for applicants is somewhere between the U.S. First and Second Type green card programs, i.e., those with master's degrees or exceptional abilities in certain fields.
It is mainly aimed at outstanding talents
Judging from the specific content of the regulations, most of them also point to outstanding people and scientific research talents in various fields.
For example, Article 15 of the Regulations stipulates that foreign employees in China who want to obtain permanent residence qualifications need to have a doctoral degree or graduate from an internationally renowned university, or their salary income is not less than three to six times the average salary of local employees (depending on industry, region and working years).
As far as the recommendation mechanism is concerned, only those who have made outstanding contributions to china's social development, or have made outstanding contributions in the fields of science and technology, education, culture, health, sports, and public welfare, can apply for permanent residence qualifications upon recommendation by the relevant competent departments of the state or the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
The conditions for investment immigration are higher
In addition, if the right of permanent residence is obtained by way of investment in China, the applicant's investment amount should not be less than RMB10 million.
As far as the investment immigration requirements are concerned, the investment amount of 10 million yuan does not sound high, but before the new regulations came into effect at the end of last year, the minimum limit of the investment immigration program in the United States was one million US dollars (about 6.94 million yuan), and if the investment was in rural or high unemployment areas, only half a million US dollars was required.
China is now the second largest economy, the economy and technology are developing rapidly, and some necessary investments will be more effective for domestic employment and economic development.
Fewer than 20,000 foreign residents in China may be eligible
In 2010, about 10% of foreign residents in China had master's or doctoral degrees, and assuming this proportion remains unchanged, 72,000 foreign residents should belong to higher degrees in 2019. If a quarter of them meet the requirements of the Regulations, which is a very optimistic estimate, there will be fewer than 20,000 foreigners in China who are eligible to apply for a "Chinese green card."
Compared with other countries, Although the number of foreign residents in China is limited, their geographical distribution is very concentrated. Foreigners in China live in major Chinese cities, such as Koreatown in Beijing, Nichiqiao District in Shanghai, and the "Chocolate City" of Africans in Guangzhou. In these areas, foreign residents of all colors have become a remarkable urban landscape, which is easy to impress the Chinese people, thinking that a large number of foreign people have already lived in the big cities of our country.
Taking the African community in Guangzhou as an example, many Chinese people think that their number has reached hundreds of thousands. I recently met a professor at Sun Yat-sen University at an academic conference who had been surveying the African community in Guangzhou for years. He told the participants at the meeting that the number of Africans in Guangzhou was only 50,000 at its peak, and only 20,000 or 30,000 recently. The UN Population Division's data do not provide the population of African countries coming to China, but they should be placed in the larger category of "other south countries", which is likely to be no more than 150,000 people, of which a significant proportion belong to students in China.
The "Regulations on Permanent Residence of Foreigners" have a total amount control mechanism
Some Chinese people are worried that foreigners who have been granted the right of permanent residence will apply for permanent residence qualifications for their families, so they will move into China with their families, resulting in a surge in the foreign population. This worry is unnecessary.
Article 17 of the Regulations stipulates that only spouses, minor children and elderly parents can obtain the right of permanent residence for immigration applications based on family reunification, and that spouses must also live with their partners in China for five years after marriage, and the actual residence of the spouses shall not be less than nine months per year.
Family-dependent immigration in the United States can be extended to adult children, and there is no requirement for the number of years of residence of the spouse. Even if a large number of foreigners try to squeeze into China through these narrow channels, Article 7 of the Regulations has set up a safety valve for total control: "The state has established a mechanism for regular evaluation and adjustment of the permanent residence policy for foreigners." When necessary, with the approval of the State Council, a quota examination and approval system shall be implemented for foreigners' permanent residence qualifications. ”
Relevant supporting measures should also be gradually improved
A country's migration policy has multiple objectives, including scientific and educational development, economic and trade mutual benefit, public security and international cooperation, and therefore needs to balance different interests and values.
The increase in the number of foreign residents is a sign and a boost to the prosperity of the country, and a government opens its doors to foreign immigrants, not only to be able to use highly skilled experts, but also to facilitate the absorption of foreign cultural nutrients. In the future, the wage income of foreign talents who will receive the right to permanent residence is much higher than the local average, and their contribution to the Chinese economy will exceed the social benefits they enjoy.
Whether it is to enhance national competitiveness or out of humanitarian concern, a more open China, as an important driver of globalization, should accept a considerable number of foreign residents. China will face many policy issues that have not been encountered before, including identity systems, ethnic relations, cultural integration and social welfare, as well as the education of the second generation of immigrants. With the formulation of the Regulations on the Administration of Permanent Residence of Foreigners, these relevant supporting policies also need to be introduced one by one.
□ Tian Fangmeng (Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Minzu University of China)
Editor Hu Boyang Intern Zhang Xiaoyu Proofreader Zhao Lin