China's top leaders have vowed to take measures making green card access more efficient, allowing easier means for foreigners to become a permanent resident of China.
Analysts agree that this pledge will help China further attract foreign investment and recruit more overseas talent.
An official statement released on Tuesday remarked: "China will manage foreigners' permanent residence in a reasonable, open and pragmatic manner."
The statement was issued after a meeting of China's top decision-making body in advancing reforms, the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform.
President Xi Jinping, who chaired the meeting, passed a guideline discussing the management of permanent residency of foreigners. Nonetheless, the details were not made public yet.
According to Wang Huiyao, Center for China and Globalization president who has been briefed about the guideline, new measures are expected to be implemented. These include setting a threshold in green card applications and allowing immigrants to put up businesses in the country.
The permanent residence permits in China have been regarded as "one of the most difficult green cards to get in the world" because of the high requirements.
Between 2004, when the green card policy was first introduced, and 2013, only around 5,000 permanent residence permits have been issued, the Ministry of Public Security revealed. The figure is relatively smaller compared with the 600,000 foreigners living in China.
"China has lagged far behind other countries in terms of immigration management. The guideline is only the first step of a regular scheme to attract international talent," Wang said.
As green card access is expected to ease, Wang further remarked that "more foreign capital and more foreigners may arrive."
"It will raise their expectations about the opportunities that China can offer," he added.