On March 18, a Yemeni businessman known by his Chinese name, Nuoman, was pleased to receive a five-year work permit from the Yiwu Bureau of Science and Technology. This is the first five-year Free Trade Zone work permit for internationals released by Yiwu.

“It has become more and more convenient to be based for work in Yiwu. Work permits used be issued with a one to two year validity, and now it’s possible to obtain a work permit that’s valid for five years,” said Nuoman, who came to China to study 21 years ago. In 2004, after graduating from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, he moved to Yiwu to work and has been living in Yiwu ever since. There, he opened a foreign trade company, which has had stable business for many years.

In order to better build a free trade zone and attract foreign entrepreneurs to start businesses there, the Yiwu Bureau of Science and Technology has been launching reformative and innovative policies that focus on stimulating, motivating, and assimilating foreign talents running businesses in Yiwu. The recent introduction of such an innovative system of work permits for foreigners focuses on drawing on the advantages of international trade and driving Yiwu’s economic and social development.

“Yiwu’s export-oriented economy has always had a strong demand for foreign talents who master foreign trade professional skills, are familiar with overseas markets, and have solid linguistic competence. But the growing demand for foreign talents in the field of foreign trade is oftentimes not supported by the current admission policies. In order to promote the introduction of foreign talents, we actively aim to innovate and strive to provide better policy systems for internationals working in Yiwu,” spokesperson of the Yiwu Bureau of Science and Technology Bureau explained. Now that the validity of work permits for foreigners has reached five years, it will facilitate the introduction of more talents for the Yiwu Free Trade Zone. (By Wang Ting, translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Mariam Ayad)