Khairuddin Bin Mahamad Kator, a Malaysian national working for Geely Holding Group, gets his Foreigner's Work Permit in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on April 13. [Photo by Liu Bo]

Malaysian Khairuddin Bin Mahamad Kator, who works as an engineer for carmaker Geely Holding Group, became the first foreign resident in Zhejiang province to be issued the new Chinese work permit on April 13.

Khairuddin received his Foreigner's Work Permit card from the foreign experts affairs bureau in Ningbo city on Thursday, the first in the region to do so since China introduced its new work permit system on April 1.

Introduced by China's State Council, the new work permits assign each foreign employee in China a group—A, B or C—classifying them as either high-end personnel, professionals, or temporary and seasonal workers in service or non-technical sectors respectively.

In addition to the holder's basic information such as their name, nationality and gender, the employee's category is also printed on the card, along with a lifetime individual code for tracking personal information such as work experience and credits. By scanning the QR code at the bottom, the holder's employer and passport number will also be revealed.

Khairuddin was employed by Geely in 2015 and until now he had to apply for an extension of his employment permit every year. But thanks to the new permit system, he has received a three-year extension in accordance to his employment contract, which means there will be no need for him to apply for an extension during his contract period.

China created the permit system for foreign employees by integrating the old Employment Permit for Foreigners and Foreign Expert Work Permit into one system. Aiming to make it easier for overseas people to work and live in China, the new system has streamlined checks and approvals by removing impediments like inefficient communication and complicated application requirements.

Applicants can download online forms to complete and submit their application, and applications are now expected to be processed within five working days on average, half the time of the previous system.