The Shanghai Municipal Government issued a guideline to attract overseas Chinese students to return and work or startup businesses in the city on Feb 1, with benefits and favorable policies. 

The city plans to establish overseas Chinese students pioneer parks, which will benefit from similar preferential policies applied to hi-tech parks and economic development zones. 

The parks will be eligible to set up various means for funding such as venture capital, entrepreneurship, seed, and guarantee funds to offer financial support and financing assurance to start-ups and help them raise money and get listed.

Shanghai’s Pudong New District has already developed such a place – Zhangjiang National Overseas Chinese Students Pioneer Park – in 2000. Over the past decade, the park has been devoted to giving entrepreneurship consultancy and financial support to returned overseas Chinese students who want to start their own business. An official at the park said that it helped a total of 40 start-ups and 200 entrepreneurs in 2015.

The guidelines stipulate that companies located in the pioneer parks will enjoy simpler registration procedures and preferential policies on office rent, capital and information service. 

Government at all levels will offer stronger support to the parks, and develop an evaluation system to select the best high-tech projects to enter the parks, increasing their success rate to nurture start-ups and transfer scientific research achievements. 

Local financial institutions, venture capital firms and private capital are encouraged to launch venture capital funds to offer financial support to those young entrepreneurs.

The guidelines also focus on the life and wellbeing of returned overseas Chinese students and their family members. It says that overseas Chinese students who now live and work or startup businesses in Shanghai along with their spouses and children are eligible to apply for permanent residence permits in the city. 

Overseas Chinese with foreign nationalities are allowed to apply for foreign expert residence permits. Their children can enjoy the same education opportunities as locals, and are eligible to apply for the city’s universities if they receive a Shanghai high school diploma. The city also intends to establish schools for those children.

Chinese with overseas citizenship will also enjoy preferential residence and exit-entry policies. Those people who work in Shanghai for four years and live in China at a fixed address for at least six months a year and whose annual salary and individual income tax meet required standards can apply for China’s permanent residence.