Beijing has issued its first work permit to a foreign national under a new visa pilot program, the Beijing Morning Post reported Tuesday.
The Beijing Municipal Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs issued its first work permit to a Canadian who works in an international school in the capital's Chaoyang district, said the report.
Beijing is one of 10 provincial-level regions across China under the pilot program which will streamline the process by which foreigners apply for work visas following a new guideline from the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA), according to the Beijing Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.
SAFEA launched the pilot scheme in September to unify the two types of work permits that foreigners can currently apply for - the employment license for foreign employees and the foreign expert work permit for top talents - into a single unified work permit.
The program will be expanded nationwide in April 2017.
The reform aims to bring more overseas talents to China and meet the demands of the domestic economy and society.
Foreign talents who apply for work permits will not be required to hand in printed materials before they enter the country, and those who are regarded as high-end talents will be able to conduct the process online, the Beijing Morning Post reported.
Shanghai issued its first work permit on November 3 to Joaquim Nassar, a Frenchman working as the dean of the Shanghai Jiao Tong-ParisTech Elite Institute of Technology, Shanghai-based news portal eastday.com reported on November 4.
