"It has been my wish to live in China permanently," said Australian
Lourenco Carlos, an eleven-year resident of China, holding the new
green-covered Foreign Residence Permit of China which he received
Tuesday.
The Australian was among the first batch of 46 foreigners who
received the long-term residence permits issued by the Beijing
Municipal Public Security Bureau, granting them between three and
five years of residency in China.
In
the past, they had to renew their residency permits every year.
The reform measure eliminates troublesome procedures each year, and
it's a sign that permanent residency will be achieved in China one
day, Lourenco said.
"This was the most important reform in the residency policy
involving foreigners since the founding of the People's Republic of
China in 1949, and it serves as a transition towards permanent
residence," said Zhang Yindi, deputy director of the Exit-Entry
Administration of the Ministry of Public Security.
The Ministry of Public Security will promote the "green card"
system nationwide by the end of this year, with the move in Beijing
as a prelude, Zhang said.
The term "green card" refers to the green covers of residence
permits granted by countries to foreigners worldwide.
The first batch of "green card" recipients in Beijing include
citizens of 12 countries, including European countries, the United
States, Japan and Singapore. One of them has been living in China
for nearly 20 years.
"The change shows China is continuing to open up to the outside
world and to introduce more international practices. It's a
demonstration of trust between the government and China-based
international firms and ensures that cooperation is long-term,"
said Christian Murck, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce
in China, who has just received a five-year "green card."
In
2001, the Ministry of Public Security announced that it would
introduce the international "green card" system to permit
foreigners permanent residence and other visa privileges.
The Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau publicized the
requirements for long-term residence to foreigners, which include
senior advisors, researchers and managers invited by the Chinese
government, senior management staff and professionals of
foreign-invested companies in Beijing, and foreign citizens who
invested more than 3 million US dollars in the city.
For the past several thousand years, China has been stereotyped as
closed and exclusionary. For a long time after the founding of New
China, foreigners were given special tickets to visit tourist
sites, taken to "hotels for foreigners" and even given a special
currency known as foreign exchange certificate.
Along with China's opening to the outside world and economic
take-off, increasing numbers of foreigners require longer residence
in China, and there is increasing social awareness about allowing
them permanent residence permits.
Official statistics show that as of the end of 2002, Beijing had
registered 9,172 foreign-financed companies and 8,028
representative offices of foreign enterprises, with the number of
foreigners living in the city permanently exceeding 50,000.
According to government officials, Beijing will soon open all its
kindergartens and primary and middle schools to children of
foreigners and eliminate "hotels for foreigners," allowing them to
stay at the hotel or local home of their choice.
(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2003)