Editor's note: The following article from China Economy Weekly is a report on how China's new visa laws have affected foreign Beijing residents. Although China's booming economy and foreign interest is undeniable, the amount of foreign visitors who overstay their legal welcome is also on the rise. Personal stories, like Australian expat Nicole (mentioned in this article) are not uncommon and as China becomes the new educational and occupational hub of the new millennium, more foreigners are going to want a piece of the action. Will China's new foreigner clean out movement stifle the new multicultural growth of China, or will it help legitimize China's workforce and growing economy?

The weekend of May 27 was supposed to be another relaxing two days off from work. But for Australian expat Nicole of Chaoyang District, Beijing, the news of the 100-day crackdown of illegal foreigners had her worried. Last summer, Nicole and her husband came to Beijing for work. Not long after, Nicole's little sister, who had come to Beijing before for tourism, started to apply for a foreign student exchange visa to Beijing. "She really liked travelling around Beijing, but she doesn't have much money to her name at the moment and can't really find any work."
Nicole was worried for her sister; foreign exchange students are not allowed to work on a student visa, and can be fined severely if caught. Even worse, the offender can be sent back home, unable to return to China for 10 years after the original departure date. Nicole's sister wasn't as worried; she figured that there were so many students in China working on their student visas, "…and they never had any problems".  However, with the 100 day clean out, and growing anti-foreigner sentiment, there might be something to be slightly concerned over.

The "San fei" and the movement against them

On May 15, Beijing's public security announced on their official Weibo account that starting from May 15 until the end of August there would be a major cleanout of Beijing's foreign visa offenders. Visas and other measures to do with the new rules will be critically reviewed, and foreigners who have illegally entered, are residing in, or working in China will be "cleared up".

The definition of an illegal foreigner in China refers to three different types of illegal residents: Those individuals who do not have legal or effective visas/entrance forms, individuals who do not openly admit to their true purposes for entering China, or those individuals who enter the country without passing through customs/security checks. 

Those foreigners who are illegally residing in China are individuals who don't have legal and effective identification, a residence permit, or a visa to stay in China. Those foreigners who are illegally employed in China are individuals who don't hold legal work visas or residency permits, but continue to work and receive a wage in the Chinese Mainland.

Chaoyang District as the foreign stronghold

Foreign occupants heavily populate Chaoyang District, the area where Nicole lives. Therefore, it only makes sense that this district was hit the hardest by inspections and suspicion. Nicole and her husband had heard from friends that they should always carry around their passport, and be ready for surprise inspections. 

District Officer Liu had told Nicole that the district police bureau would be managing and checking for her household registration. The officer also urged Nicole to report any type of suspicious or unknown foreigners within the area. Officer Liu reported that all residents and employees in the area have been urged to report any suspicious activity of foreigners. Liu also added that since there are so many foreigners in the area that the police cannot be relied upon alone. 

Koreatown, and a multinational China

Since the year 2000, the pace of foreigners entering the country has increased annually by 10%. Statistics from the public bureau of safety show that in 2011, 27,110,000 foreigners had entered China. Of this number, 600,000 of these foreigners live in China for more than half a year. This number is the same as a Chinese mid-sized city's population. 

The Beijing Public Safety Bureau stated that Beijing has near to 200,000 foreigners every day, and that half of those foreigners are residents. The Beijing 2010 census actually showed that long-term foreign residents accounted for 90,000 individuals. These foreign residents mostly reside in three different areas in Beijing. In addition to the embassies and surrounding area at the Eastern 3rd Ring Road, Wudaokou is the most heavily populated because this is the location of Beijing Language University, practically the epicenter of all that has to do with studying and teaching Chinese language. Beijing's Wangjing area has also seen surge in South Korean businesses and South Korean immigrants to the area, and has even been called Beijing's "Koreatown". According to statistics gleaned from wandering Wangjing's streets, the total number of foreigners in this area is 20,748, with over 85% of these individuals being students, businessmen or tourists from South Korea. 

Why they come, and how they stay

Most foreigners come to China for business, employment, studying, to see family members, as well as other reasons, according to the National Public Safety Bureau.  Most foreigners are sightseeing tourists, which usually account for about 44%.  17.6% of foreigners come to China for official meetings, to study, to give lectures or are here for other short-term reasons. At the end of 2011, however, 37% of foreigners came to China to work for the long-term, which is about 220,000 individuals in total. 
The most common way that foreigners overstay their welcome is by continuing to reside or work in China on a student visa. A foreign tour guide told China Economy Weekly, "Foreigners who travel China as tourists can choose to travel independently, they don't receive any supervision from travel agencies and can easily manipulate the visa system."

Around the same time that Beijing started to "clear out" illegal foreigners, Shanghai, Jilin Province and other areas started to initiate the same type of movement. This type of movement has happened several times before, between 2005 and 2011, when close to 140,000 illegal foreigners were cleared out of China. So while the movement may not be a new one, a growing, outspoken Chinese public has a whole new set of tools (media, internet, etc.) to voice their suspicions. And the government is encouraging those individuals to speak up against their neighbors.

Source: China Economy Weekly 
 

Related links
Feeling the Fist: Read all About China's New Entry-Exit Laws for Foreigners
System Overload: China Struggles as Illegal Foreigners Increase
"Sweep Out the Foreign Trash": Is Anti-Foreigner Sentiment Trending in China?

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Keywords: China visa system Beijing foreigner clean out multinational China