More than 300 foreigners in Shanghai had applied for a Chinese “green card” by the end of last month and 184 had already been approved, authorities said. New rules introduced in July last year allowed applications from foreigners who had lived in the city for four years, earned a gross salary of over CNY600,000 and paid at least CNY120,000 in tax each year. Previously, only business executives, scientists or academics were entitled to apply for permanent residence permits. The Shanghai Exit-entry Administration Bureau said it takes around six months to review an application. The Bureau said half of the current applicants were business owners, high-level executives and General Managers and 30% were managers. The others were “high earners” such as doctors and pilots. Almost 80% are from developed countries with 65% Chinese with foreign nationalities. The bureau said it was also processing requests from 218 applicants’ relatives. Also under the new rules, 1,866 foreigners who had successfully applied for work permits in two consecutive years were given five-year work permits by the end of last month, the Shanghai Daily reports.