Expats take advantage of loosened visa policy

The Shanghai municipal government has handed out significantly more permanent residence permits to expats since loosening its visa policies in July.

A total of 715 residence permits were issued to expats in the city between July and December, up from 60 during the same period in 2014.

A dozen beneficial policies, including providing permanent residence permits for high-level overseas passport holders and subsidies to high-tech professionals, were designed to open Shanghai's door wider to the world as apart of its focus on forming a global technological innovation center.