Pierre Angot from France explains how blockchain helps tackle traceability challenges in the supply chain during a Swissnex event on March 21. [Provided to China Daily]
Yang Jianrong, director of the Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai, said he believed an increasing number of talented foreigners would opt to start their careers or implement business plans in the city, especially as the city grows into a global leader in economic, financial, trade, shipping, research and cultural center.
"This trend will continue as Shanghai unveils measures to grant foreigners easier access and reduce application times for permanent resident permits in order to attract talented people from around the globe to join in its mass entrepreneurship and innovation," he said.
Muddassar Sharif from Pakistan started his business specializing in automated machine learning registered in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone a year ago.
"Currently companies have data but are lacking people with expertise to enable them to use it. So we use virtual data scientists to help them," said Sharif, who is in his final year studying data science at Shanghai New York University.
He said it was the right time to start such a business in China because the industry is ready for the change in data and technology and needs data analysis.
"Moreover, retail companies are our key clients and there are many of them in Shanghai," he said.
Sharif, 23, said the good relations between the two countries make it easy to hire Chinese employees and get connected to local communities and industries.
Official figures for the number of businesses initiated by expats in the city are not available, but there are about 600 such companies in Yangpu district, the municipality's demonstration zone of mass entrepreneurship and innovation.
Official statistics show that more than 210,000 expats hailing from 167 countries and regions are working in Shanghai, the largest number among Chinese cities and accounting for nearly 25 percent of the national total.
