Shanghai will speed up the internationalization of its government services by rolling out more favorable and tailor-made measures, according to a new action plan released by the municipal government on Friday.

Made up of 26 measures, the action plan aims to improve its integrated government services further, which will help elevate efficiency, improve the business environment, and enhance residents' experiences.

International Services Shanghai, the one-stop platform targeting foreigners launched in early 2024, will have its service capacity further improved. The city's comprehensive government affairs service platform will introduce a special section serving companies' overseas businesses, according to the action plan.

Over the past few years, Shanghai has introduced a number of policies to further facilitate cross-border travel, including the pilot electronic port visas first experimented in Shanghai in July 2024, and on-the-go tax refunds for overseas tourists, which started late last year.

Ever since the beginning of this year, financial and shipping professionals have become eligible for Shanghai's favorable talent policy for frequent travel between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, Qiu Ling, head of the Exit-Entry Administration Corps of Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau, said during a Friday news conference.

Qualified executives of the two industries can apply for talent endorsements valid for one year with multiple entries and a stay of up to 30 days per visit, she said.

On top of that, Shanghai has set up six 24-hour self-service spots that provide Hong Kong and Macao travel permits to Chinese mainland residents right away. During this year's Labor Day holiday from May 1 to 5, nearly 4,000 such permits were issued, according to Qiu.

Shanghai now has two municipal-level direct service platforms for overseas talents and another four district-level platforms of the same kind, offering one-stop services for high-frequency public security matters such as exit-entry administration, traffic management, public security, and household registration. Foreigners applying for permanent residence permits can also have their driving licenses renewed at these platforms when collecting their permits.

These platforms also provide value-added social services such as booking health checkups for inbound foreigners. These platforms have served over 22,000 overseas individuals so far, according to Qiu.

These efforts have helped to further improve Shanghai's appeal to foreigners. According to public security data on temporary accommodation registration for foreigners, the city recorded 7.139 million such registrations last year, reaching an all-time high.