To set up a  reasonable and practical foreign talents assessment system which focuses  on ability, achievement sand contribution and highlights market demand  and value reflected in market evaluation and international peer  evaluation (see the Classification Criteria for Recognition of  Professional Achievement of High-end Foreign Talents,  hereinafter referred to as the Achievement Criteria),  by the combined application of the points system  (see the Integral Points Score Table), the Work Guide Directory for  Foreigners,the labor market test and quota management, foreign workers  will be divided into three categories A, B and C for corresponding  classified management.

I. High-end Foreign Talents (Category A)

Category  A foreign talents, subject of the  "greenchannel" and" admissible absence for procedure" services, include  scientists, science and technology leading talents,international  entrepreneurs, special talents and other foreign high-end talents  urgently needed in the economic and social development of China who  fall in line with the national priority list for foreign talents and  any of the following conditions:

(A) Elected for the domestic talents programs

(See  the Achievement Criteria 1) Identified by the competent department  of human resources above the provincial level or above and ratified  by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the  Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the  State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.

(B) Conforming to the international criteria of professional achievement

Nobel Prize Winner (Awards of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine,Economics);

Winners  of the following awards: the US National Science Medal; the US  National Technological Innovation Medal; Award for Science of  the National Research Center of France; the UK Royal Gold  Medal; Copley Medal; Turing Award; Fields Award; Wolff Mathematics  Award; Abel Award; Lasker Award; Crawford Award; Japan Prize; Kyoto  Prize; Shaw Prize; famous architectural awards (see the  Achievement Criteria 2); famous industrial design awards (see the  Achievement Criteria 3);

Academicians of National Academy of Sciences, Academy of Engineering;

Members  of ISO and other internationally renowned academic institutions (see  the Achievement Criteria 4) and other science and education  international organizations;

Directors and senior research fellows from national research institutes and national labs;

Project leaders, chief scientists and key members of national science and technology programs;

Former  chief editors, deputy editors and senior members of international  high-level scientific and technical journals (JCR Collection 1 and 2);

Publishing 3  papers as the first author or the corresponding author  (including the contributed equally author)in high-level international  sci-tech journals (JCR I and II);

Former middle or senior administrators, professors, associate professors of foreign or overseas high-level universities;

Former senior  managers, key R&D members of the headquarters,  deputy general managers or above and R &D chief of the second tier  branches or regional headquarters of the world top 500 companies (see  the Achievement Criteria 5);

Former senior  managers of well-known international financial institutions (see  the Achievement Criteria 6)and international accounting firms  (see the Achievement Criteria 7);

Directors,  deputy directors, professors and associate professors of world  famous colleges of music, fine arts, and arts (see the Achievement  Criteria 8);

Chief conductors and vocal performers of the world's leading orchestra (see the Achievement Criteria 9);

Artists  who have held individual performances and shows at world famous  opera houses (see the Achievement Criteria 10) or concert halls (see  the Achievement Criteria 11);

Winners  of the highest individual awards of famous literature awards  (see the Achievement Criteria12), famous film, television and drama  Awards(see the Achievement Criteria 13), famous music awards (see the  Achievement Criteria 14), famous advertisement awards (see the  Achievement Criteria 15), the top class award or the first prize in  the first class contests or individual awards in the second  class contests of famous international art competition (see the  Achievement Criteria 16) or judges of the above-listed awards and  contests;

Athletes listed in the top  eight in the Olympic Games or the last two sessions of the World Cup,  World Championships and other important international events (see the  Achievement Criteria17), which are included in the Olympic Games;  athletes listed in the top three in the Asian Games or the last two  sessions of Asian Cup and Asian Championships, which are included in the  Asian Games; the head coaches or the core members of the coaching  team responsible for training the above-listed athletes;

Former leaders  (ministers or above) of foreign governmental departments; former  senior leaders of famous international organizations or non-government  institutions (see the Achievement Criteria 18);

Winners  of world and national skills contest or professionals engaged in  the training for the contests; highly skilled personnel with the highest  international vocational qualification certificates or senior  technician qualification certificates of China;

Talents appointed for senior management or technical posts in central enterprises.

(C) Foreign talents fulfilling the market demand for government-encouraged posts

Talents  appointed for senior management or technical posts in central  enterprises and their subsidiaries, the global or regional headquarters  of the world top 500enterprises, national high-tech enterprises  (subject to ratification by the technical department above the  provincial level) and large companies (see the Achievement Criteria 19);

Senior  managers or technical staff of business engineering research  centers recognized by development reform departments, engineering labs  recognized by development reform  departments, engineering technology research  center recognized by science and technology  departments, business  technology centers recognized by economic and information agencies and  local technical innovation service platforms recognized by science and  technology departments;

Senior  managers or technical staff employed by domestic and foreign  medium-sized businesses (see the Achievement Criteria 19); the chairman  of the board, the legal representative, general manager or  the chief technical specialist appointed by small-sized foreign-invested  businesses in line with the government-encouraged industries specified  under "Foreign Invested Industries Guide Catalog" and "Catalog of  Foreign Invested Competitive Industries in the Central and Western  Regions";

Foreign talents appointed  to senior management posts or as associate professor,associate research  fellow by higher education institutions and research  institutions; senior lecturers, senior internship tutors  and other deputy senior or above technical professional personnel  appointed by vocational colleges;

Foreign  talents appointed to senior management posts or deputy senior (or  above) professional technical posts by the first class domestic  comprehensive hospitals,sub-provincial (or above) specialist hospitals  or foreign hospitals;

Chief conductor,  artistic director and chief performer employed by first-class domestic  orchestra and other arts organizations (see the Achievement  Criteria 20);

Staff at senior  management or technical positions such as editor-in-chief,  deputy editor, chief announcer, senior moderator, planning director,  layout supervisor employed by central and local mainstream  media (see the Achievement Criteria 21);

Major players,coaches or core member of the coaching team employed by national and provincial sports teams or clubs;

Foreign  talents whose salary income is 6 times or higher than  the local average annual income of the previous year. For  Shanghai,salary income should be 600000RMB or higher and personal income  tax 120000 RMB or higher.

(D) Innovative and entrepreneurial talents

Business  founders who contribute with major technological inventions, patents  and other independent intellectual property rights or  proprietary technology and have stable investment for three  consecutive years with the actual investment in the business not less  than 500,000 US dollars and individual shares not less than 30%;

The chairman,  the legal representative, the general manager, or the chief  technical specialist who contribute with major technological inventions,  patents and other independent intellectual property rights or  proprietary technology of the business with the annual sales more than  10 million or the annual tax more than 1 million yuan for three  consecutive years;

Talents at senior  management or technical posts employed by businesses listed by the  competent provincial department as innovative business or scientific  innovation industry.

(E) Outstanding young talents

Young talents  under the age of 40 who are engage din post-doctoral research in  high-level foreign (overseas) universities or domestic universities.

(F) Graded 85 points or more in the points-based system

II. Foreign professional talents (Category B)

Foreign  professionals in line with the "Foreigners Employed in China Guide  Catalog"and the corresponding demands of the economic and social  development of China who fall within any of the following conditions  shall be classified into Category B:

(A)  Foreign professionals with a bachelor degree or above and 2 years  and above related work experience and fall within any of the  following descriptions:

Administrators  or technical personnel engaged in the posts of  research,teaching and administration in the fields of education,  research, news, publishing, culture, art, health, sports and  other special areas;

Personnel  under the intergovernmental agreements between China and foreign  countries, international inter-organization agreements, economic  and engineering contracts between China and other countries and  personnel dispatched by well-known international academic institutions  and international science and education organizations shall have  more flexible age restriction;

Staff  employed by the representative offices of international organizations  in China and representatives of the representative offices of overseas  experts organizations in China;

Middle  or above managers dispatched by multinational businesses;  the chief representative or the representative of the resident offices  of foreign businesses in China;

Foreign managers or technical professionals employed by businesses,institutions and social organizations.

(B) Skilled talents with internationally recognized qualification certificates or in short supply.

(C)  Teachers of foreign languages. Teachers of foreign  languages generally shall be engaged in the teaching of their native  languages and shall have a bachelor's degree or higher degree and  language teaching experience of at least two years. Those who have had  degrees in the field of education, language or teaching, or have  acquired a qualification certificate of teaching at their own countries  or a recognized international certificate of language teachings shall be  exempted from the restriction on work experience.

(D)  Skilled talents with qualification certificates, with an average  salary income 300000 RMB or higher and personal income tax 120000 RMB or  higher.

(E) Special personnel under the relevant state regulations or for the implementation of special projects.

(F) Professionals graded 60 points or more according to the points-based system.

III. Other foreigners (Category C)

Foreigners  employed to meet the demand of the domestic labor market in line  with the state policies and regulations are here by classified into  Category C. This category includes:

Foreign employees in line with the relevant regulations concerning the employment of foreigners in China;

Foreigners engaged in some temporary or short-term (no longer than 90 days) posts;

Foreigners  under the quota system management, including young foreigners coming to  China for internship under intergovernmental agreements, foreign  students in line with the relevant regulations, foreign graduates from  overseas institutions of higher learning, foreigners engaged  in long range fishing and other special fields.


Click to view the Chinese version.


(All  information in this document is authentic in Chinese. English is  provided for reference only. In case of any discrepancy, the Chinese  version shall prevail.)