China relaxes rules to attract more skilled overseas talent

Interesting shift:

China’s Ministry of Public Security is to relax its immigration rules, opening the door to more highly skilled overseas workers and allowing a greater number of foreigners the opportunity to become permanent residents.

The rule changes, which will take effect from August, will also allow top talents from abroad to apply for long-term visas and make it easier for budding overseas entrepreneurs to start a business in China, the ministry announced on Wednesday.

Previously, only foreign talents who made “major and extraordinary contributions” while in China or who filled a skills gap were allowed to apply for permanent residence. From next month, those with in-demand skills and those whose annual income or taxes reached a specified threshold can apply for permanent residence, as can their spouses and underage children.

Those who have held a job in China for four years in a row and have been resident for at least six months each year, whose annual income is higher than six times the annual average worker’s wage in their city of residence, and who pay at least 20 per cent of their income in taxes, are eligible for permanent residence under the new rules.

In Beijing, the average salary last year was 94,258 yuan (US$13,706), setting the threshold for overseas candidates at 565,548 yuan (US$82,236) per annum.

The revised policy will also make it easier for people of Chinese ethnicity from overseas to apply for permanent residence. Those with a doctoral degree, or who have worked in what the ministry called “key development areas” for four years with a stay of at least six months each year are also eligible for permanent residence.

Source: China relaxes rules to attract more skilled overseas talent

High-skilled immigration remains popular in anti-immigrant nations

Not much new but reinforces the point that the benefits of higher skilled immigrants are better understood than lower skilled:
Most of those calling for less immigration overall actually support high-skilled immigration, according to an international survey released this week — a counterpoint to the immigration backlash that has upended politics in the U.S. and other countries.

Why it matters: A majority of people who want to cut immigration levels do not necessarily see all immigrants as threats to their job security, but support bringing in foreign workers for highly technical jobs. As fights over asylum, the border and unauthorized immigration rage, the survey is a reminder that the opposition to immigration isn’t across the board.

The big picture: More than half of respondents from 10 of the 12 nations surveyed by the Pew Research Center said they support high-skilled immigration (Israel and Italy were the exceptions). In the U.S., 78% said they supported high-skilled immigrants.

  • But only two countries had immigrant populations where more than half had attained a college degree — Canada and Australia.
  • The U.S. has the highest number of college-educated immigrants, but they only make up around a third of the total U.S. immigrant population.

Between the lines: Immigrants — high-skilled, low-skilled and even unauthorized — play a crucial role in the American labor force beyond high-skilled jobs. The industries that most depend on unauthorized immigrant workers in the U.S., for example, include agriculture, construction and leisure/hospitality, according to an earlier study by Pew.

  • Immigrant workers could be key in maintaining high economic growth as the U.S. population ages and fertility rates drop.
  • “The Pew study shows the public clearly recognizes the great value high-skilled foreigners bring to America, and the critical role they play in our industries and communities nationwide,” Jeff Lande of the Lande Group, which represents India-based IT companies, told Axios.

Source: High-skilled immigration remains popular in anti-immigrant nations