Why does China refuse to grant green cards to expats having lived there for decades?

为什么中国拒绝给在中国生活了几十年的外国人颁发绿卡

以下是Quora读者的评论：

Vladimir Prostran, has MA degree in Chinese studies

This is a good question.

It is true that most expats who have been in China cannot easily secure long term residence. Even spouses of Chinese nationals need to apply for a separate work permit and visa, in spite of being in China long term.

问得好！

的确，大多数在中国的外国人很难获得长期居留许可。即使是中国公民的配偶，虽然长期生活在中国，也需要申请单独的工作许可和签证

I would say there are two reasons for this.

Overpopulation. China is the world’s most populous country and this has put a significant strain on the resources such as housing, infrastructure, water, electric power, education and health care. There is a concern that approving long term residences might even make the situation worse in this aspect, especially if long term residences among foreigners become more common. The government probably does not want to encourage this.

我想说有两个原因。

一个是中国人口过剩。

中国是世界上人口最多的国家，给住房、基础设施、水、电力、教育和医疗等资源带来了巨大压力。

有人担心，批准长期居住将加剧这一情况，特别是如果外国人长期居住越来越普遍的话。政府可能不鼓励这种做法

History. Due to the Hundred Years of Humiliation (百年耻辱) when the Westerners moved to China without even bothering to ask the chinese about it and then contributed to the exploitation of China, there is a certain skepticism about foreign immigrants to China and their motives and intentions, which then translates to the slow approval of long term residence permits. China is not an exception in this aspect - many Asian countries, especially the ones with the colonial traumas, have similar policies.

另一个是历史原因。中国曾经遭受过百年耻辱，西方列强来到中国掠夺，人们怀疑外国移民到中国来的动机和意图，这就意味着对长期居留许可的审批会很慢。

许多亚洲国家，尤其是那些曾经遭受殖民创伤的国家，都有类似的政策

Sekiguchi Masanori, Had and has dealing with China.

Good question.

It has nothing to do with over population as China’s demographic demise is upon it. It has nothing to do with history either.

they need to maintain their rule and so they do not trust “outsiders” no matter what.

问得好。

这和人口过剩没有关系，中国的人口即将开始减少。这也与历史无关。

非我族类其心必异！他们不相信外人

Dong Shan, Software Engineer at Google

First, China grants a few green cards for who have great help on China.

China already have a big population, so we can’t accept many immigrants. And we don’t have detailed law for immigrate as well, Chinese have time to do so.

With the growing of economy, many expats lives in China, and our government is doing something to give them right to live here forever.

首先，中国会对中国有重大贡献的人颁发绿卡。

中国人口众多，不接受大量移民。

我们也没有详细的移民法律。

随着经济的发展，很多外国人生活在中国，我们的政府正在为他们永久居住在中国提供一些便利

Shan Liu, Been Chinese all my life. LOL

China is not an immigrating country, you cannot get green cards on the grounds of having lived there for decades. There are pathways to citizenship, but you have to become Chinese first, when you qualify as a Chinese then they will process your application. How is your Chinese, why do you want a green card?

中国不是移民国家，不是在中国生活了几十年，你就能获得绿卡的。有入籍的途径，但你必须先成为中国人，当你有资格成为中国人时，他们才会处理你的申请。你的中文怎么样，为什么想要绿卡

Jack Ye, Academic Tutor

Most expats work and live in large metropolis, such as Guangzhou, Beiing, Shanghai…

If they are granted green cards, they will have the right to healthcare, public education, right to purchase properties in those cities, and so on. Those are scarce opportunities that should be reserved for Chinese citizens first.

大多数外国专家生活在大都市，比如广州、北京、上海

如果获得绿卡，他们将享有医疗保健、公共教育、以及在所住城市购买房产等权利。

这些稀缺的机会应该首先留给中国公民。

Peter Elliott, B.Arch Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington - Architecture and Design (1997)

Don’t need them. China has all the people they need and have enough foreigners to fill the skills gaps with short term visas. No country is a charity lol.

不需要他们。中国有的是人，可以给有技能的外国人发放短期签证。没有哪个国家是慈善机构，哈哈。