On February 27, 2020 the Ministry of Justice released the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on the Management of Permanent Residence of Foreigners (Exposure Draft) (2020) to gather public opinions over the next month.
This exposure draft relaxes the standards for foreign citizens to apply for permanent residency in China – also known as China’s ‘green-card’ – which is notoriously hard to obtain, even for foreigners who have been in the country for many years.
While the new draft covers most of the provisions of the old regulations, it contains some key differences, most notably allowing those with high levels of education or wage income, combined with three to eight successive years of work experience in China to apply for foreign permanent residency.