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If you can prove to China that you're a "qualified expert" on something, you might soon be in luck with regards to your visa situation. According to the Shanghai government, high-level professionals who meet several standards could convert their temporary stay permit to a permanent residency in 2009.
From Shanghai Daily:
Announcing the plan yesterday, Mayor Han Zheng said new enabling regulation would be issued before the end of February as the city pushed its doors open wider to attract professionals from both home and abroad."Shanghai should become a stage on which talent from all over the world can work and freely start up their own business," Han told more than 150 domestic and foreign reporters at a press conference at the end of the Shanghai People's Congress's annual session yesterday.
"The new policy is sure to provide a better environment for development in the city," he added.
To qualify, applicants need to hold a Shanghai Residence Card and need to have already lived in the city for a certain period of time (yet to be decided). They also need to be a local taxpayer who's made contributions to Shanghai's social security program on a monthly or yearly basis.
They will need to demonstrate their skill sets and have clean credit and police records. Mayor Han promised that details of the policy will be announced next month and that everything would be "clear and transparent."
So... does writing snarky commentary and bankrupting open bars count as a qualified expertise?
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"They also need to be a local taxpayer who's made contributions to Shanghai's social security program on a monthly or yearly basis." - my income taxes are massive. if anything, i've paid for my right to live here, working for the gov't part time for several years now. do we even get any benefits from all our "contributions"????