In Recent years, Shanghai imposed several measures that will facilitate entrepreneur visas for foreigners. The city also encourages investors to launch their business plans in the city by setting up startups.
Shanghai allowed foreigners, who graduated from Chinese universities and that have stayed in the city for their business plans, to apply for an entrepreneur visa which lets them stay in the country as they start their own business within a year.
The move is part of Shanghai's ambitious goal of turning into a global hub for science and technology by 2030. Shanghai also started to issue entrepreneur visas to graduates of well-known overseas universities within the past two years who had an innovative entrepreneurial plan in Shanghai.
Lin Qian, general manager of Kudosbay, a startup service provider for foreigners based in Shanghai's Songjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone since 2017, said that as visa types continue to play a role in facilitating expats to carry out their venture plans in Shanghai, the city has basically formed an environment to attract global talent to showcase their innovative capabilities.
According to some foreign entrepreneurs, incubators in the city played a big role in implementing their business plan from zero to one. Barbaro Vaccaro from Italy, who started her business "Barbara Art Studio" in Shanghai in January, commented that the incubator helped her understand all the paperwork about the license and visa application. She added that it introduced them to the right business opportunities and helped us build more connections with the industry.
According to records, there around 600 companies that were launched by expats in the Yangpu district. The district is the municipality's demonstration zone of mass entrepreneurship and innovation. The latest official statistics reflected that more than 210,000 expats hailing from 167 countries and regions work in Shanghai. It accounts for nearly 25 percent of the national goal and it the largest number among Chinese cities.
Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau said on Wednesday expatriates in Shanghai are finding it easier to renew their visas and apply for permanent residence permits after a set of new policies came into effect earlier this month. Shanghai's new policies require fewer documents from foreigners. According to Cai Baodi, foreigner visa management division chief at the bureau said that the policies exempt those applying for certain visas from providing documents concerning their Chinese hosts if the hosts remain the same from previously granted visas.
The new policies are convenient to those applicants seeking short-term family visits (Q2 visa), short-term private matters (the S2 visa), short-term studies (X2 visa), business trips (M or F visa) and talent visas (R visa).
