Shanghai issues first unified work permit for foreigners

Shanghai issued its first single unified work permit to a foreigner on Thursday, as the city kicked off a pilot program to ease the burden of highly skilled expats getting work in Shanghai.

The new permit replaces the Alien Employment Permit and Foreign Experts Certificate, issued by two different government agencies, for which an expat had to spend up to months to obtain.

Shanghai is the country's first city to launch the new system amid efforts to attract more foreign talent to speed up its development as a scientific and technological innovation hub.