Shanghai community center integrates services for intl residents

Kym Shirley from Australia, who has lived in Shanghai for more than two years, attended her first police service session at the center recently. "It was fantastic. I learned about traffic regulations for scooters and helmet requirements," Shirley said.

Gerusa Aloi from Brazil, who arrived in February, said the center helped her family adapt to their new environment. "The main thing they helped me with was understanding how to communicate and find useful things in the neighborhood," Aloi said. Her family has participated in summer activities, including cooking classes, tea ceremonies and handicraft workshops.

Canadian resident Degan Jeffery, who has lived in Shanghai for 17 years, recently attended a Chinese lesson on reporting incidents to police. "I just learned the 122 number for traffic accidents instead of dialing 110," he said.

Shanghai police have established similar platforms at locations with high concentrations of overseas residents. The city has built two municipal-level international talents service centers in Zhangjiang science city and Hongqiao business district, and four district-level branches in Huangpu, Jing'an, Qingpu and Yangpu.

The Hongqiao platform covers six police departments' services, nine types of government affairs including professional title evaluation and enterprise registration, and numerous social services such as legal consultation and document translation.

"Here you can handle more things than many people imagine," said Huang Yichen, the platform manager. "We've achieved the goal of entering one door to handle multiple matters."

Hou Xiaowen from the exit-entry administration said the platform also supports Chinese enterprises seeking to expand overseas through a comprehensive system, including automatic services for existing talent permit holders, comprehensive support for key enterprises, and 24-hour intelligent visa services near Hongqiao International Airport.