Win a science Nobel and be in the running for a Chinese ‘green card’
Permanent residency on offer for top talent willing to help deepen China’s research ranks
Two Nobel laureates will be granted Chinese “green cards” as the central government rolls out the red carpet to try to lure the world’s top overseas scientists for its research programmes.
Dutch chemist Bernard Feringa, who won the Nobel for chemistry last year, will be able to pick up his green card next month for agreeing to head up a team investigating “self-healing materials” at Shanghai’s East China University of Science and Technology, according to Liberation Daily. A research centre has also been established Feringa’s name in the coastal metropolis.
Another recipient is Swiss scientist Kurt Wüthrich, a 2002 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry and head of a research team at ShanghaiTech University looking into human cell receptors.
Green cards entitle holders to permanent residency in China, enabling them to stay in the country without having to renew their visas every year.
The government launched the scheme in 2004 to attract top talent to help China keep up with the United States and Europe. They are also awarded to investors, executives and individuals who make “outstanding contributions” to the country.