Elderly expats look forward to having a work permit for more years in Beijing.
Although reluctant, Andrew Hanigan (pseudonym), a 64-year-old engineer who has been working in an international company in Beijing for over 10 years, is planning to move back to the US soon. When he turns 65, he will no longer be able to get a work permit in Beijing.
According to Chinese law, foreigners who are senior executives or experts in high and new technology industries can work until 65; others have to stop working at 60.
"To be honest, I don't want to go back. I am used to life in China, and I am perfectly healthy," said Hanigan. "I still have a few good years ahead of me. I can still work and contribute."
Hanigan's wish has already come true for his counterparts in Shanghai. Huang Hong, a department director of the Shanghai Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs told Metropolitan that since July 2015, foreign managers and experts in Shanghai can work until 70. The Shanghai municipal government issued the policy, Huang said.
"Since then, we have issued work permits to over 100 foreign experts over 65 years old," Huang said. "Their expertise is precious and needed in China, so we are doing everything we can to help them stay longer."
Hanigan thinks the Shanghai policy is quite encouraging, but he wonders if Beijing will implement a similar policy.
China has been sparing no effort to attract overseas talents in recent years. According to a July report by Bloomberg, China plans to set up an immigration bureau to attract foreign experts and talents by the end of the year to help the country develop and contribute to reducing its economic dependence on the manufacturing industry and massive investment.
The Guangdong Free Trade Zone, a special zone covering Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai in Guangdong Province that enjoys favorable policies in international trade and investment, has already implemented a series of policies to attract high-level foreign talent, including streamlining the application process for permanent residency and residence certificates, reported Cankao Xiaoxi, a daily newspaper run by the Xinhua News Agency, on August 6.
The cost of employing foreign talent is also taken into consideration. Liang Yucheng, a sociologist based at Sun Yat-Sen University who studies how foreigners integrate into Chinese society, said that retired or elderly foreign experts are a very good choice for China to meet its need for high-level foreign expertise.
"They will save us the expense, as their payment package is much lower than that of young high-level foreign talents," Liang said. "In most developed countries, the retirement age is around 70 on average."
Liang said that southern cities that have a tradition in pioneering, like Shanghai and Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, are most likely to implement some innovative policies to attract foreign talent. However, he does not hold such high hopes for Beijing in the near future.
"I am very glad to see that China is making more of an effort to attract foreign talent, and I hope Beijing and other cities in China will broaden the age limitation soon," said Hanigan.
A staff member from the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs said that Shanghai is a pioneer in issuing new policies to attract foreign workers, but refused to comment on the possibility of other cities in China following in its footsteps, including Beijing.
