Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

Last month the Global Times heralded China's implementation of a new expat grading system to determine our eligibility to work in the Middle Kingdom. The tiered permit - which will classify foreigners into three categories: top talent, professional talent and unskilled talent - is intended to simplify China's visa approval process and entice more high-level talent to live in the country.



All this at first sounded very refreshing to me, given how the current visa system is notoriously vague and complicated. I remember a bunch of my foreign friends from Shanghai Fudan University who held Confucius scholarships were once nearly deported simply for trying to obtain internships in Shanghai while they were still studying, which our school encouraged them to do but is technically illegal for foreign students in Shanghai.



What deflated my enthusiasm for the new tiered system, however, is how the criteria are determined. Expats will be ranked according to salary, educational background, the time they have already worked in China, their Putonghua proficiency, age and the city they intend to work.



If their points add up higher than 85 out of 100, they will be considered an A-type expat, 60 points gets you a B, while below 60 brands you as a lowly C-class "unskilled" expat.



Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of all this is the fact that the highest-priority criterion is one's level of salary. If you earn at least 450,000 yuan ($66,550) per year, you will automatically receive 20 points. Speaking some Putonghua will get you 10 points, and working outside of Beijing or Shanghai will also get you 10 points.



Oddly, the bottom three criteria are what I believe to be much more accurate determinants regarding whether you are truly "talented." These are if you graduated from one of the world's top 100 universities, if you have experience working at a Fortune 500 firm, and if you hold any special skills in shortage in China.



Ironically, these three only add up to a mere 20 points - the equivalent of the salary category.



If the aim of this new tiered visa policy is to attract top-level foreign talent into the country to diversify the talent pool, stimulate innovation and contribute to the economy, the bottom three criteria should be given much more weight.



Additional criteria such as one's extracurricular activities, workshop certificates and demonstration of leadership should also be included.



There is indeed a clause for those demonstrating "extraordinary entrepreneurial talent," but the strict requirements to obtain those points are nearly as hard to achieve as being awarded a Nobel Prize.



To me, the new system seems more a method of curating, rather than fostering, potential talent in China. Instead of cultivating bright minds and successful businesses here, China just wants to import them in. That doesn't seem likely.



Sergey Brin, for example, did not build Google in Moscow and then ship it over to the US - he conceived it in Silicon Valley thanks to that area's innovative eco-system and creative-minded community.



Apparently the profile of the "perfect" foreigner that Chinese authorities are seeking is a 30-something, very-well-paid manager or executive with an MBA and some interest in Putonghua who is willing to live in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.



As for actual talent, well that would be very nice, but it's obviously not the true priority of this new program; as long as you can boost the tax revenue of the local government with your impressive income, then huanying laidao zhongguo (welcome to China)!



The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Global Times.