Recently, Zhongshan authorities released “The Implementation Plan for Non-resident to Settle Down in Zhongshan”, according to which Zhongshan would relax the residency policy during the 2016-2020 period. By the end of 2020, the registered population of Zhongshan is expected to reach 1.825 million, with an over 50% urbanization rate.

“People with no self-owned house are allowed to apply for permanent residency permit in Zhongshan” is one of the highlights of the plan. Specifically, for people have self-owned house and have lived in Zhongshan and participated in social insurance for 3 consecutive years, or people have no self-owned house but have lived in Zhongshan and participated in social insurance for 5 consecutive years, they and their spouse, underaged children and parents are allowed to apply for permanent residency permit of Zhongshan.

The plan also mentions to relax restriction on permanent Zhongshan resident permit application for key population groups, such as rural registered college students. Current year’s graduates of universities and vocational colleges are also allowed to apply for settling down in Zhongshan.

Relevant enforcement regulations for the plan are being formulated and will be released soon.