Services For Foreigners Living and Working In Xiamen

 

In order to support foreigners living and working in Xiamen, TCBC set up Foreigner Support Center at the beginning of 2010. The English-speaking and Japanese-speaking staff members are devoted to offering a full range of services such as translation, arrangements on medical treatment, emergency help, agent services on visa and permit, agent services on personal income tax, house leasing and legal support. In the past few years, the Foreigner Support Center has been developing gradually, winning great applauses from those foreigners ever helped. Some of the foreign friends even consider the Center as “911 in Xiamen for Foreigners”.

 

We are always ready to support foreigners living and working in Xiamen, efficiently and professionally. As for the specific service items, procedures and fees, please refer to the link in the right top corner.

 

Service Category I – Credentials & Documents
1. Visa Extension
  a  Extension of L-Visa and F-Visa
  b  Application for invitation letters F-visa requires
2. Alien Work Permit and Residence Permit
  a  Application for Alien Work Permit
  b  Application for Alien Expert Certificate
3. Agent services on personal income tax
4. Agent services on notarization
5. Application for Chinese Drive License for those foreign drive license holders
6. Commercial insurance

Service Category II – Life & Work
1. House leasing
2. Arrangements on medical treatment
3. Emergency help
4. Admission to local school for foreigners’ children
5. Adoption of kids in Xiamen
6. Inter-cultural marriage
7. Job hunting

Service Category III– Business Support
1. Legal support
2. Translation and interpretation: English, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Korean
3. Business tour/research in and around Xiamen
4. Purchase tickets
5. Hotel reservation
6. Car rental
7. Liaison with government authorities

 

Xiamen Tourism Attraction

 Nanputuo Temple

Nanputuo Temple has a history dating back to the Tang Dynasty. It was expanded during the Ming Dynasty and renovated during the Qing Dynasty. Facing the harbor and worshipping Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy), the temple is akin to the Guanyin Temple on Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang Province, hence its name "Nanputuo" (literally, "South Putuo"). The temple is nestled snugly at the foot of five soaring peaks–the Bell Peak (the First Peak), the Second Peak, the Middle Peak (the Third Peak), the Fourth Peak, and the Drum Peak (the Fifth Peak).

 

Kulangsu

Kulangsu is a symbol of Xiamen, and has been praised as "Island of Music" and "Exposition of Worldwide Architectures". Kulangsu covers an area of 1.87 square kilometers, and has famous tourist attractions like Sunlight Rock, Shuzhuang Garden and Harmonium Museum.

As the tide comes in, the waves hit rocks, producing great sound like beating drums, and this is how Kulangsu gets its name. Here you may stroll to a quiet lane, or take a sunbath on the beach; there are Chinese and western architectures of various features, and natural scenery that will make poets and literary men want to compose poems and prose.

Shu Ting, a famous poet, said: "Kulangsu has tied me to her skirt. Neither can she get rid of me, nor can I leave her." Indeed, Kulangsu is a beautiful place that people would find it hard to forget.

 

Xiamen Botanical Garden

Xiamen Botanical Garden is the first of its kind in Fujian Province, and has an area of 4.93 square kilometers. Sitting in the cradle of mountains and lakes, the Garden is the host of a variety of tourist attractions, including over 7,000 kinds of plants and many precipice inscriptions. Here you can get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

 

Railway Park

The Railway Culture Park which is situated between Wenping Road and Heping Pier used to be a part of Yingtan-Xiamen Railway. The old railway tracks had been wasted for years until 2011 when the construction of the Railway Culture Park began. Today it is a belt-shaped park which connects neighboring scenes and trails.

 

 

Yundang Lake

Yundang Lake was originally called Yundang Port. Historically, the northern shore of the port was flanked by a massive grove of giant bamboo trees known locally as "Yundang", hence the lake's current name. Land reclamation in the 1970s turned the port into a 1.7-square-kilometer lake, with a 400,000-square-meter terrace in the middle, called "Bailuzhou". 

The lake has a fascinating nightscape that originated from the erstwhile "Yundang Fishing Lights". The areas around the lake contain a large number of sightseeing, leisure, recreational, fitness, shopping and catering facilities. Being the geographic center of both the city's old and new urban districts, the lake is a testimony to the extraordinary changes of the city over the time.

 

 

Zhongshan Road

Located at the southwest of Xiamen Island, Zhongshan Road was built in 1925 and is about 1.2 kilometers long. Since its establishment, Zhongshan Road has been the economic center of Xiamen and is the only commercial street facing the sea in China. Zhongshan Road is the main commercial pedestrian street in Xiamen. It is 1,198 meters long and 15 meters wide. Most of the buildings along the street were constructed by the returned overseas Chinese in 1920s. Nowadays there are hundreds of department stores, restaurants, and theaters on both sides of the street, attracting both locals and tourists with endless array of beautiful commodities.

 

Zengcuo'an

Zengcuo'an has developed from a fishing village into an artistic village with a main population being students and young artists. Over the years, the art village has begun to take shape as more and more artists like sculptors, musicians, poets and travelers swarmed to this village. Strolling along the five streets and eighteen lanes of Zengcuo'an, you will encounter artistic pieces of all kinds of styles.

 

 

Shapowei

The old inhabitants of Xiamen called the coastal section of Siming South Road Shapowei, which is situated between Yanwu Road and Dashengli. Sha Po Wei is the only shelter dock in downtown Xiamen and represents the memories of the old Xiamen locals for the ocean. Now it has become a great place of seafood and boutique shops. While Zengcuo'an is more of a neighborly and cozy place, Shapowei presents a rather international and refreshing appearance.

 

 

Xiamen University

Situated at the foot of mountains and beside the sea, Xiamen University boasts fascinating scenery. Together with its unique architecture, it is praised as the most beautiful university of China. Walking in the campus, you can see the classical red corniced architecture of Tan Kah Kee style. It is a blend of the swallow-tailed ridge and red-brick walls of the southern Fujian style and the high stone walls and flower-shaped window frames of the western style.

 

Xu Rongmao: Xiamen offers unprecedented investment opportunities today

 In the Xiamen Investment Promotion Conference on April 29, 17 entrepreneurs were employed as one of the investment advisors of Xiamen. 

At the conference, some entrepreneur representatives shared their experiences and feelings about development in Xiamen. They highly lauded the continuous improvement in Xiamen's urban infrastructures, innovation and venturing atmosphere and business environment and Xiamen government's efficient and practical services for enterprises, which made Xiamen an ideal place for investment and development. They took it as a rare opportunity for enterprise investment and development considering Xiamen's bid to become a beautiful modern international city with high quality. 

Xu Rongmao, president of China Federation of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs and chairman of the Board of Directors of Shimao Group

"My local accent has never changed even if I left home when I was young", said Xu Rongmao, president of China Federation of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs and chairman of the Board of Directors of Shimao Group, during his speech. "Fujian is my hometown, I feel warm and highly honored to be invited to attend the Xiamen Investment Promotion Conference". He said the famous local saying of "Dedicate yourself and you will win." well reflected the pioneering and diligence spirits of Xiamen. As an international city that plays a leading role in China, Xiamen is continuously implementing brand-new development concepts and its new economy and business modes are developing rapidly. It is above the mean level of 1st-tier domestic cities in business environment. With the expansion of its international partnership, Xiamen is reforming and developing on a fast track. 

"As a native of South Fujian, I have never forgotten this is my origin". He said in the process of building a high-quality innovation and entrepreneurship city and a high-value ecological garden city in Xiamen, Shimao Group had made its due contributions. In the past 30 years, Shimao Group has cherished the original aspiration of "make the city's dreams come true" and expanded its scope of business to cover real estate, hotel, business, theme park, financial, educational, agricultural, animal husbandry, big health and hi-tech industries, thus establishing an "ecology of sustainable development" through business diversification that has grown with the city and witnessed the happiness of the people. In 2009, Xu Rongmao came back to South Fujian and started his engagement with Xiamen's urbanization process with Shimao Strait Building Project located beside Xiamen University. In the past ten years, Shimao Group has continuously contributed to improving the city image and living environment of Xiamen with a cumulative investment of over 30 billion Yuan. 

According to Xu, Xiamen offers unprecedented investment opportunities to enterprises at home and abroad. "We wish to avail our strong suits in urban infrastructure operation, tourism, cultural, hi-tech, health, medical, nursing, rural revitalization, sports and other industries, seek for new investment opportunities at hot spots on and off Xiamen Island and continue to develop quality projects as a contribution to the development of Xiamen". 

 

Lin Tengjiao: Be optimistic about Xiamen's future and will jointly develop the "AI Science and Technology Park"

 

Lin Tengjiao, vice president of China Federation of Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs and founder & chairman of the Board of Directors of Yango Holdings 

"In the journey of the great rejuvenation of China, Xiamen is a fertile ground, fertile soil will cultivate towering trees", said Lin Tengjiao. The magnificent blueprint of Xiamen to become a beautiful modern international city of high quality also makes him highly excited. 

In 1995, Lin Tengjiao and his partners came back China and founded Yango Holdings The company became one of world's top 500 enterprises in 2016. In April this year, Lin led a delegation to visit Xiamen and had a formal discussion with the main leading officials of Xiamen. Lin said, "As the leadership of Xiamen government said in the discussion, the development of a city's economy depends on the horizon, inclusiveness and energy of its entrepreneurs. If a city is hospitable, the investors will come naturally. We can foresee the bright future of Xiamen from CPC Xiamen Municipal Committee and Xiamen Municipal Government's emphasis on and care and support to investors". 

"Xiamen Municipal Government's great emphasis on the development of hi-tech industries fits in with the development strategy of Yango Holdings. We think highly of Xiamen's solid industrial base, superb innovation environment and great development potentials", said Lin. As the saying goes, go fishing to the place where there are lots of fishes. Therefore, on the second day after the discussion, the Board of Directors of Yango Holdings passed a resolution to jointly develop "Xiamen AI Science and Technology Park" with Xiamen Municipal Government and Xiamen University and set up the "Belt & Road" international headquarters of Yango Longking Group in Xiamen."

The Phase I project of "Xiamen AI Science and Technology Park" has a planned investment of 10 billion Yuan. High-level global talents will be attracted based on Yango Holdings's advantages in business diversification, market competitiveness and scenario application, Xiamen University's scientific research and technical advantages and international topnotch strategic partnership resources. The middle-term goal is to develop a 100B-Yuan AI industry in Xiamen. 

As a descendant of overseas Chinese, Lin said he took Mr. Chen Jiageng as his idol when he was young. "Life is limited. But patriotism and the spirits of Mr. Chen Jiageng will last forever". 

 

Lu Zhengyao: Firmly take Xiamen as the center and lay the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain

 

Lu Zhengyao, chairman and CEO of Ucar, chairman of the Board of Director of CAR Inc. and chairman of Luckin Coffee 

"We settled down in Xiamen ten months ago, so I am a new representative", said Lu Zhengyao, chairman and CEO of Ucar, chairman of the Board of Director of CAR Inc. and chairman of Luckin Coffee. He is a native of Ningde. But he is not familiar with Xiamen because he has been living in North China for a long time. "Two years ago, I didn't expect that I would pass the remaining part of my life in Xiamen". 

According to Lu, he was considering establishing a technical center and the second headquarters in another city in 2017; he started contacts with Xiamen in early 2018 and reached an agreement very quickly; the national headquarters of Luckin Coffee and the operating headquarters of Ucar settled down in Xiamen in June 2018. So far, the Ucar and Luckin systems have registered more than 20 operating entities with a registered capital of about 16 billion Yuan, a paid-in capital of about 6.5 billion Yuan and a workforce of 1,200+ employees, and presumably 2,500 employees at the end of the year. 

Why did he choose Xiamen? "The first reason is the good environment here", said Lu who was a jogging lover, "it is a pity if you don't jog when you are in Xiamen". He also lauded the high quality of Xiamen's public servants, "we have businesses in 200+ cities nationwide and we are deeply impressed by the quality and strong sense of responsibility of Xiamen's governmental officials". Meanwhile, the Xiamen government is very efficient and offers very good supportive policies, including taxation, household and other preferential policies. "We are deeply impressed by the advantages of Xiamen's business environment which helps to significantly reduce our general operating costs. Our employees work happily here which contributes to the stability of our workforce in favor of our long-term development". 

"Xiamen is also our place of luck", said Lu. Luckin Coffee has launched its IPO process. The preparation for IPO lasted for 1+ years, two years earlier than expected. 

He said, "Xiamen is the great supporter of our development". He said they will firmly take Xiamen as the center and lay the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain in the future, e.g. BORDWARD, coffee and bakery base, etc. He will also become a "promoter" of investment in Xiamen and actively recommend Xiamen to his friends in the business circle so as to attract enterprises to settle down in Xiamen. 

 

Jiang Chaorui: Have full confidence in Xiamen's development and will try his best to recommend Xiamen

 

Jiang Chaorui, chairman of TPK

"Xiamen Government is like a fully automatic mechanism that responds to our needs without any delay", said Jiang Chaorui yesterday, chairman of TPK, humorously to laud the efficient services of Xiamen Government. 

TPK is a leading manufacturer in the global touch control industry. The touch control module of the first iPhone was made by TPK and it turned a cell phone from "with keypad" into "no keypad". Jiang Chaorui founded TPK in Taiwan in 2003 and set up TPK at Xiamen Torch Development Park of High Technology Industrial Zone in 2004. So far, TPK has founded ten-plus subsidiaries; its workforce has expanded from just ten-plus employees to nearly 50,000 employees at the peak time; and its initially-leased 1,000 sqm workshops have been replaced by its self-constructed workshops in a total area of 1,300,000+ square meters. Today, Xiamen is the most important manufacturing base of TPK. 

Jiang Chaorui attributed the rapid development of TPK to "good timing, good place and good people". "Good place" refers to a good place of investment. He was deeply impressed by Xiamen Municipal Government's "advance approval and simultaneous approval" and other practical services for TPK. 

"Xiamen is only one strip of water away from Taiwan, Xiamen is both my origin and my place of luck. Taiwan has good technologies and managements and the Mainland has abundant resources and a large market. Cross-strait industrial cooperation brings us unlimited business opportunities. Xiamen is developing smoothly in all fields and people from all over the world are contributing their talents, and living a prosperous and contented life here. Therefore, I have full confidence in the development of Xiamen", said Jiang Chaorui emotionally. 

As Jiang introduced, TPK had founded multiple factories in Xiamen. It has been aggressively developing SNW (silver nano-wire) technology, the main material of flexible display in recent years. He said he would try his best to recommend Xiamen and attract more Taiwanese enterprises to invest here, more young Taiwanese to work and start a business and attract more world-famous enterprises to settle down in Xiamen. 

 

Chen Hongliang: The development of the companies are promising as Xiamen officials are responsible and good at services

 

Chen Hongliang, secretary of CPC Committee and chairman of Tianma Microelectronics Co., Ltd.

"We have been in Xiamen for 8 years and I have to say something that is deep in my heart about it today", said Chen Hongliang, secretary of CPC Committee and chairman of Tianma Microelectronics Co., Ltd., to start his speech.

He reviewed the development history of Tianma in Xiamen. In 2011, Tianma invested 7 billion Yuan in a production line of low-temperature polycrystalline silicon in Xiamen; in 2015, it made an additional investment of 12 billion Yuan in the construction of its 6G production line of low-temperature polycrystalline silicon. With nearly 20,000 employees in Xiamen today, Tianma has invested several billion Yuan in the R&D of its core technologies cumulatively, and established strategic partnerships with Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, OPPO and other world-famous brands. In 2018, Tianma broke decades of international monopoly and realized the highest share in the global market of low-temperature polycrystalline silicon products.

According to Chen, Xiamen governmental officials know about their services well and have a strong sense of responsibility; the government is honest and credible, keeps its promises, provides real and good services, has the courage to make innovations, abides by rules and emphasizes partnership. He quoted the 2016 Typhoon Meranti attack as an example. Tianma's suppliers were very worried about the impacts on cargo delivery then. With the support from Xiamen government, Tianma resumed the production in just three days and realized complete production in one week. "Without the support from Xiamen Government in all aspects, we won't have developed so smoothly and successfully". 

"We are very excited about the speech of Hu Changsheng, member of the Standing Committee of CPC Fujian Provincial Committee and secretary of CPC Municipal Committee, during the conference", said Chen Hongliang, "enterprises have great development potentials considering the superb geographic advantages, strategic opportunities and cultural environment of Xiamen". He disclosed Tianma’s two actions in the future: firstly, Tianma will hold its global supplier conference in Xiamen in May to actively respond to the Investment Promotion Conference. Several hundred upstream and downstream enterprises of the industrial chain will come to Xiamen then, including 100+ listed companies. These enterprises are expected to know more about Xiamen and develop in Xiamen together. Secondly, Tianma will formulate a new plan to facilitate the development of the industrial chain and contribute to the social and economic development of Xiamen.