Article VI (Application Materials)

To apply for the accreditation as a Foreign-funded R&D Center, the following materials shall be submitted:

(i) A letter of application signed by the legal representative;

(ii) A resolution of the shareholders or the board of directors;

(iii) Materials of special audit on R&D investment.

To apply for the accreditation as a Global R&D Center, the following materials shall be submitted in addition to the above-mentioned ones:

(i) A Global R&D Center authorization document signed by an authorized signatory of the parent company;

(ii) Supporting documents that could vindicate research and development investment and the shareholding relationship, etc.;

To apply for the accreditation as a Foreign-funded Open Innovation Platform, the following documents shall be submitted:

(i) A letter of application signed by the legal representative;

(ii) A resolution of the shareholders or the board of directors;

(iii) Supporting documents to verify the paid-in capital of the platform;

(iv) Supporting documents to verify property ownership or lease of the research and development sites;

(v) Contracts for the admission of the signed and settled projects of the platform.

The above-mentioned applications can be processed through "Government Online-Offline Shanghai", Shanghai's all-in-one online government service platform. The governments or departments responsible for the accreditation shall finish the decision-making process within 5 working days from the date of receipt of the application materials.

Article VII (Customs Clearance Facilitation for Cross-border Research and Development)

Qualified Foreign-funded R&D Centers may finish the filing process for the enterprises and the imported products for R&D use on the "one-stop" service information platform of the Customs and may enjoy customs clearance facilitation for those products.

Second-hand key R&D equipment to be imported for less than 1 year, upon the approval of the Customs, may be granted a reasonable extended period of stay. For vehicles that are imported for experimental testing and are required to be shipped out within 6 months, upon the approval by the Customs, the period of stay can be extended to 2 years at the most.

Relying on the joint oversight mechanism for the security of special items entering the country, which was established on a trial basis by the Customs and the Pudong New Area Government, the municipality shall carry out assessments on the origin, safety and necessity of special import items for research, development and production of Foreign-funded R&D Centers included in the "white list", and optimize the management procedures for the entry of the above-mentioned special items.

Article VIII (Cross-border Financial Services Facilitation)

Banks are supported by the Shanghai Headquarters of the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (Shanghai Branch) to provide Foreign-funded R&D Centers with convertible cross-border financial services including cross-border fundraising, trade in technology, franchising, as well as centralized fund management on the basis of free trade accounts, to provide cross-border financial facilitation to employees of Foreign-funded R&D Centers when taking part in equity incentive schemes in accordance with law, and to provide Foreign-funded R&D Centers with facilitated convertible cross-border financial services based on individual free trade accounts for talent introduced from overseas.

Financial institutions within the municipality's banking system are encouraged to optimize their procedures for foreign exchange settlement under non-trade accounts, to strengthen counseling and other services concerning taxation for Foreign-funded R&D Centers, and to provide a green access for them when handling the contract filing and tax determination in foreign exchange settlement under non-trade accounts.

Article IX (Talent Acquisition and Development)

Foreign-funded R&D Centers are included in the Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Occupation List. Eligible returnees from abroad after finishing overseas study and employed by Foreign-funded R&D Centers will be given priority when applying for "hukou" (China's household registration) in Shanghai; outstanding domestic employees who are non-residents of the municipality can apply for a Shanghai residential permit with corresponding points, or apply for conversion into a Shanghai "hukou" according to the requirements; eligible high-end, urgently needed employees can directly apply for "hukou" in Shanghai; eligible foreign employees who apply for the Overseas Talent Residential Permit are entitled to additional points and related benefits. High-level foreign talent employed by Foreign-funded R&D Centers are entitled to relevant favorable treatment according to the Regulations.

High-level foreign talent employed by Foreign-funded R&D Centers will be given priority when applying for the Confirmation Letter for High-level Foreign Talent; for foreign talent whose employment is deemed necessary, upon the recommendation of the municipal commerce department, restrictions on age, education and work experience can be relaxed to a certain extent; eligible foreign personnel employed can apply for a work permit by means of "Notice + Commitment", Application Acceptance, and etc. In addition, they can enjoy the convenience of contact-free approval processes when applying for work permit notice and extension among other related matters.

Outstanding international students who have obtained a bachelor's degree or above in universities in Shanghai, or a master's degree or above in universities in China, as well as outstanding foreign university graduates with a bachelor's degree or above in a prestigious university outside of China, can be directly employed by Foreign-funded R&D Centers regardless of quota for employment of foreign university graduates.

Eligible high-level overseas returnees recruited by Foreign-funded R&D Centers can, regardless of their years of service in China, participate in the evaluation for senior professional titles, with their overseas professional work experience, academic or professional technical contribution as the basis for evaluation.

Department of science and technology and department of human resources and social security shall provide foreign talent employed by Foreign-funded R&D Centers with convenience for their work and application of relevant documents in the municipality.