文、圖/張慧

在新冠肺炎疫情暴發(fā)和中美關(guān)系膠著的大背景下，蘇州市（隸屬中國(guó)東部的江蘇?。┱兄Z將出臺(tái)相關(guān)政策，吸引更多外籍人才來(lái)蘇州市工作和生活。

對(duì)于那些早已在蘇州謀生活的外國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，政府推出的這項(xiàng)試點(diǎn)計(jì)劃，使他們能更容易、更快地獲得工作和居留許可。

蘇州市科技局副局長(zhǎng)顧萬(wàn)勇表示，蘇州將取消對(duì)外籍高端人才的年齡限制，并將其他符合條件的外籍專業(yè)人士的年齡限制放寬至70歲。

在周五召開的新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上，他談道，“還有其他的一些政府措施，包括為雇用外籍人才的公司建立信用體系，這樣這些公司就可以享受優(yōu)惠政策從而幫助內(nèi)部外籍員工提交工作許可所需的材料”。

他還表示，該市的目標(biāo)是截至2022年年底吸引1萬(wàn)名高層次人才，其中包括2500名外籍高層次人才。

截至6月底，該市11892名外籍人才獲得工作許可證。但由于新冠肺炎疫情的影響，該市今年上半年吸引的外籍人才數(shù)量與去年同期相比有所減少。

The government of Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province,pledged to attract more foreign talent to work and live in the city by rolling out policies amid the COVID-19 and tense China-US relations.

For those who have already started their career in Suzhou,the city government launched a pilot program to allow foreigners to attain work and residence permits easier and faster.

The Suzhou city government also arranged charter flights to fly back foreign employees who could not timely return to the city for work due to COVID-19.

“你應(yīng)該知道，沒(méi)辦法能把我變美的?！蔽议]上雙眼，靜默不動(dòng)。她用眼線筆的筆尖沿著我的睫毛劃過(guò)，我能感到?jīng)鲲`颼的。我想象穿著這身衣服出現(xiàn)在家人面前，胃里頓時(shí)一陣扭擰，覺(jué)得好像快要吐了。

Gu Wanyong, deputy director of Suzhou Bureau of Science and Technology, said the city would remove age restrictions for foreign high-end talents, and lift the age restrictions for other eligible foreign professionals to 70 years old.

Other measures included establishing a credit system for companies that hire foreign talents so that such companies can enjoy preferential policies to help their foreign employ-ees submit materials required for work permits.

在江蘇自由貿(mào)易試驗(yàn)區(qū)蘇州片區(qū)，兩名外籍人士在為高端外籍人才辦理工作居留許可的特殊窗口遞交申請(qǐng)

自6月底以來(lái)，該市推出了一項(xiàng)新的試點(diǎn)計(jì)劃，使在該市工作的外籍人員能夠更快地獲得工作和居留許可。

在試點(diǎn)項(xiàng)目計(jì)劃中，外籍人士可在江蘇自由貿(mào)易試驗(yàn)區(qū)蘇州片區(qū)設(shè)立的為高端外籍人才辦理工作居留許可的特殊窗口同時(shí)申請(qǐng)工作許可和居留許可，并可在15天內(nèi)拿到工作居留許可。

此前，外籍人士若要申請(qǐng)這兩份許可，必須訪問(wèn)兩個(gè)政府機(jī)構(gòu)——當(dāng)?shù)乜莆凸簿郑冶仨毜却?5個(gè)工作日才能拿到許可證。

蘇州市工業(yè)園區(qū)公安分局出入境管理科警官徐瑩表示，自6月30日該項(xiàng)目實(shí)施以來(lái)，共處理了112份申請(qǐng)。

一位名叫Arlph的德國(guó)工程師說(shuō)：“我為自己和家人申請(qǐng)了簽證延期，整個(gè)過(guò)程非常方便，我在現(xiàn)場(chǎng)花了大約一個(gè)小時(shí)，然后就可以回家了?！?/p>

而四年前，他第一次申請(qǐng)居住證時(shí)，花了半天時(shí)間才提交材料。

據(jù)當(dāng)?shù)赝馐罗k公室一位姓周的官員介紹，為了更好地促進(jìn)外企復(fù)工，當(dāng)?shù)赝馐罗k公室協(xié)調(diào)了10架包機(jī)返回蘇州，并且自3月份以來(lái)，已幫助95家企業(yè)的372名外籍員工返回蘇州。

例如，蘇州下屬的縣級(jí)市——常熟市外事辦公室安排了一架包機(jī)，搭載著大約100名日本員工，經(jīng)無(wú)錫蘇南碩放國(guó)際機(jī)場(chǎng)返回蘇州。

The city aims at attracting 10,000 high-level talents by the end of 2022, including 2,500 foreign high-level talents, Gu said.

As of the end of June, the city had 11,892 foreign talents with work permits. But due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of foreign talents the city attracted in the first half of this year has reduced compared with the same period last year, according to the bureau.

Since the end of June, the city launched a new pilot program allowing foreigners working in the city to enjoy quicker approval of work and residence permits.

Under the pilot program, foreigners can apply for both work and residence permits at the special window of work and residence permits for high-end foreign talents at Suzhou Area of the Jiangsu Pilot Free Trade Zone, and they can receive the two permits in about 15 days.

Previously, foreigners had to visit two government agencies- local science and technology commission and public security bureau - in applying for the two permits, and they had to wait for 25 working days to get them.

Since the implementation of the program on June 30, a total of 112 applications were handled, said Xu Ying, a police officer from the exit and entry administration of Suzhou industrial park branch of the public security bureau.

A German engineer who gave his name as Arlph said he applied for a visa extension for him and his family and the whole process was very convenient. "It took about one hour at the scene, and then I can go home," Arlph said.

But when he first applied for residence permit at the bureau four years ago, it took him half a day to submit materials,he said.

To better facilitate the work resumption of foreign companies in Suzhou, local foreign affairs office has coordinated 10 charter flights returning to the city and since March, 372 foreign employees from 95 companies have returned to the city, an official surnamed Zhou from the local foreign affairs office said.

In a latest example, the foreign affairs office of Changshu, a county-level city administrated by Suzhou arranged a charter flight carrying some 100 Japanese employees to return to Suzhou via Sunan Shuofang International Airport in nearby Wuxi city.