Dr. Yawo Mawunyo Nevme from Togo received his permanent residence permit, or "green card", from the Public Security Bureau in Suqian City of Jiangsu Province on December 3.

This is Suqian’s first green card in recognition of expats who have made significant contributions to the city’s development.

(Photo/Sun Xuhui)

Dr. Nevme, 43, also a winner of the Friendship Award of Jiangsu Province, applied for permanent residence permit in April this year and was approved by the National Immigration Administration. He studied for his PhD at Huazhong Agricultural University and was a postdoctoral researcher at China National Rice Research Institute from 2008 to 2016, then joined Jiangsu Greenport Modern Agricultural Development Company.

Similar to the identity cards used by Chinese citizens, foreigners' identity information will be embedded in the chips of the machine-readable cards, to be shared by railways, airlines, insurance agencies, hotels and banks.