Foreigners' green card path gets smoother

Ahmed Alsayadi, a 31-year-old entrepreneur from Al Bayda, Yemen, has been living in China for more than a decade. But like many other young foreigners in Beijing, he had been unable to get permanent residency because of the high qualification criteria.

"I have been keeping an eye on China's 'green card' policy," said Alsayadi, co-founder of A Big Dream Entertainment, a big data consultancy service.

Generally, "if a foreigner wants to apply, he or she has to have direct investment in China or be paying a large amount of personal income tax, which is difficult for me," he said.