Shanghai plans to encourage entrepreneurs returning from overseas to set up business in the city's new free trade zone (FTZ), an official said on Monday.
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The program, a start-up alliance for overseas returnees, means policy incentives for returnees to establish a foothold in the FTZ, according to Huang Weimao, deputy director of the Shanghai bureau of foreign experts affairs.
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Shanghai already has a package of policies giving preferential treatment to overseas returnees in terms of residence permits, education for their children and healthcare.
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"The free trade zone represents fresh opportunities for returnees to open businesses in China," Huang said, adding that a convention in south China's Guangdong Province last week received over 5,000 inquiries from returnees.
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Shanghai is the top destination for overseas returnees, with more than 100,000 currently employed or running businesses in the nation's financial center, statistics from the foreign experts bureau show.
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The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone opened in late September as a sandbox for opening up the service sector and financial reform.