A foreigner takes photos of the Lujiazui Financial District in Pudong, Shanghai. [Photo/IC]

A wider scope of expatriate workers will be deemed as high-end talent\r\n in Shanghai as of March 1 as part of the city's continuous effort to \r\nattract talent from around the world to contribute to its development, \r\nthe city's foreign expert bureau said on March 1.

High-end talent will now include scientific research workers holding \r\nforeign passports and fresh PhD graduates in disciplines such as \r\nscience, engineering and agriculture.

These foreigners can directly apply for the R visa and enjoy a \r\nstreamlined process for visa application, according to the new policy.

The limits regarding age, education background, and years of work \r\nexperience for foreign talent in certain scientific and technological \r\ndomains will also be relaxed if there is urgent need for such \r\nprofessionals.

For technological talents who specialize in fields where there is an \r\nurgent demand and those holding internationally recognized certificates \r\nfor their professional skills, the age limit can be relaxed to 70.

To aid its efforts of becoming a scientific innovation hub with \r\nglobal influence, the city has in recent years unveiled a string of new \r\nmeasures to attract and retain foreign experts.

Latest official figures show that there are currently 215,000 \r\nexpatriates working in Shanghai, accounting for nearly one-fourth of the\r\n country's total and the highest among all Chinese cities.

By the end of February, expats officially certified as high-end \r\ntalent accounted for 18 percent of the total number of expats working in\r\n the municipality. This figure is also the highest in the country.