The Chinese government has optimized permanent residence application procedures for foreigners by accelerating the approval of qualified applicants. The State Immigration Administration (SIA) has approved 1,881 applications in two months, equivalent to the total number of approvals in 2017. Established on April 2, SIA is a new institution which handles residence applications of foreigners. SIA simplified the procedure to significantly shorten the approval period, and reduce restrictions for talent with high-level academic achievements, like Nobel laureates.

More than 500 applicants in Shanghai have received their Chinese green cards over the past two months – almost as many as those issued in a year’s time – as China strives to improve its service efficiency. The Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau issued between 400 and 500 green cards annually in the last two years. The city’s latest number accounted for about 30% of all foreigners in China who have received the green cards over the past two months. The permanent residence card with an embedded chip makes it possible for the holder to buy train tickets, take domestic flights and check into a hotel without presenting a passport. More than 200 Chinese-born foreign nationals with doctoral degrees applied for a Chinese green card in Shanghai last year. At the end of 2016, there were 175,674 foreign nationals living in Shanghai, of whom 3,027 have Chinese green cards.

According to the Center for China and Globalization, China is now an increasingly attractive destination for expatriates. China ranked fifth in the world in 2016, and fourth in 2015, as a source country for outbound remittances – showing it has become a desirable location for foreign workers, said Yang Jingming, Researcher with the think tank and one of the report’s authors. The United States topped the list in 2016, followed by Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Germany.

“Official figures from the Ministry of Public Security also show an increasing number of foreigners are coming to China to work, as well as to study and travel,” Yang added.
The country is now home to an estimated 1 million people who were born elsewhere, with 60% of them from Hong Kong, Brazil, South Korea and the Philippines. Song Quancheng, Director of the Institute of Migration Studies at Shandong University, said China had been a key destination for foreigners from less developed countries, particularly in Africa, for more than a decade.

A new service window has also been opened in Tianjin’s Binhai New Area. An estimated 13,000 foreigners apply for work and residence permits every year in Tianjin and the Binhai New Area accounts for nearly 50% of the total. “Tianjin will continue to introduce preferential policies and convenient services for foreigners,” Li Jian, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office at the Tianjin Foreign Expert Affairs Bureau said.

Chinese regulators have approved U.S. semiconductor company Qualcomm’s proposed USD44 billion acquisition of Dutch chip maker NXP Semiconductors. The decision by China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) clears a months-long antitrust roadblock caused by trade tensions between the U.S. and Beijing and will allow the takeover to proceed. Anti-trust regulators from nine nations had been required to sign off on the merger because of its potential impact on their economies, and after eight others – including the U.S. and Japan – had approved the deal, it awaited China’s decision. Chinese competitors have expressed concern that the combined entity would extend Qualcomm’s patent licensing business into areas like mobile payments and autonomous driving.

Details of what assets Qualcomm has agreed to shed in order to reach the agreement have not been made public, nor has the timing of the merger. Qualcomm, which is based in San Diego, California, is the world’s largest chip maker for smartphones. China’s approval came soon after the U.S. Commerce Department struck a deal with Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp (see below), but before the announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump of the imposition of punitive tariffs on USD50 billion worth of Chinese imports.

UK payment services provider WorldFirst could get a license to operate in Shanghai imminently, a local official said, making it the first foreign company to be allowed into China’s payments business as the country pushes ahead with the opening of its financial sector. Zheng Yang, Director of the Shanghai Financial Services Office, said on the sidelines of the Lujiazui financial forum in Shanghai that the authorities had already asked WorldFirst to provide supporting documents for its earlier application.

WorldFirst said it is hopeful of a positive outcome from its application, but declined further comment. It had initially applied last month to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), which oversees the payments industry. China has embarked on a major opening of its financial markets, including allowing foreign investors to take maximum 51% equity stakes in brokerages and life insurers. It is also pushing ahead with plans to allow access to the booming payment services industry. PBOC Governor Yi Gang reiterated Beijing’s ongoing support for Shanghai to act as a front runner for financial liberalization.

In addition to World First, the Shanghai government has also held talks with U.S. payment firm PayPal, which said it had already submitted an application for a local license.

Xiang Junbo, former Chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), pleaded guilty in court to taking bribes, a year after he was sacked. He became the highest-ranking finance official to be snared in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on graft in the financial industry. Prosecutors at a court in Jiangsu province said Xiang had abused his power not only as head of the insurance watchdog, but also earlier in his career while holding senior positions at the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and Agricultural Bank of China (ABC).

The 61-year-old was accused of taking bribes totaling CNY19.4 million in exchange for helping organizations and individuals secure contracts, loans, qualifications and personnel promotions. Prosecutors said Xiang accepted bribes both directly and through his wife Yang Guang, who is being prosecuted separately. The court did not give a date for sentencing. Xiang was removed from his position at the CIRC in April last year during a shake-up of China’s financial sector. He was put under criminal investigation after being accused of issuing operating licenses to favored insurers. The CIRC no longer exists as an autonomous agency after the government, in an attempt to fend off growing financial risks, merged it with the banking regulator in March.

Xiang was appointed head of the CIRC in 2011. In his six years at the helm, the value of China’s insurance industry almost tripled, and several firms grew exponentially, the South China Morning Post reports. One of the most notable examples was Anbang Insurance Group, which was established in 2011 following a corporate restructuring, and grew into a company with CNY2 trillion in assets. Much of its growth stemmed from licenses issued by the regulator to sell “universal insurance policies”, or high-yielding wealth management products that have little to do with traditional insurance. Former Anbang Chairman Wu Xiaohui was last month sentenced to 18 years in prison for fraud and embezzlement, but has lodged an appeal against the charges.

Hong Kong, the second-most expensive city in the world for expatriates last year, has fallen out of the top 10 of most expensive cities because of the weakness of its currency, a cost of living survey has found. The survey of 250 major world cities was conducted by ECA International in March and looked at 170 day-to-day costs including food, clothing, transport and leisure services. “Although the price of goods has continued to rise in Hong Kong in the past 12 months, its currency has weakened,” Lee Quane, Asia Regional Director at human resources consultancy ECA International. Prices rose 2% in Hong Kong from March 2017 to March 2018, the survey said. “It doesn’t mean Hong Kong’s competitiveness has been threatened,” Quane said. “The drop means it’s cheaper for companies to move somebody to Hong Kong compared with Tokyo or Seoul.” Housing prices were not included in the survey. “It’s hard to combine housing costs to daily expenditures since expatriates who are single and those with family have different housing needs,” Quane said.

Hong Kong was surpassed by three cities in Asia – Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai. Luanda in Angola was knocked off the top spot by Caracas in Venezuela. Tokyo was ranked the most expensive city in Asia and seventh in the world, while Hong Kong was the fourth in the region and 11th globally. Shanghai is now the 10th most expensive city for expats in the world and the third most expensive in Asia. “Shanghai overtook Hong Kong because of the strength of the yuan. There were very minimal changes in prices,” said Quane.

Chinese cities generally climbed higher in rankings, as the yuan rose against major currencies such as the U.S. dollar. Second tier cities in China saw a bigger rise as their economies grew at a faster pace, which resulted in higher inflation rates. Xiamen, a coastal city in Fujian province, jumped 13 places in the ranking to the 41st, the biggest rise among Chinese cities. Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur was the Asian city that gained the most, soaring by 29 places, thanks to the strengthening of the ringgit, Quane said. Brussels rose by 51 places in the ranking.

A similar survey conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in March also found Hong Kong dropped two places to the fourth most expensive city in the world.