An American student named Philip receives the first start-up visa in Sichuan province on July 13.[photo/guancha.cn]

An American student named Philip received the first start-up visa in Sichuan province on July 13.

Philip, aged 29, studied Chinese language at Sichuan University for four years. He created an efficient way to learn Chinese and described it in his dissertation, winning the first prize for outstanding dissertations at Sichuan University in 2017.

An American student named Philip receives the first start-up visa in Sichuan province on July 13.[photo/guancha.cn]

Philip said he had always wanted to stay in Chengdu after graduation. Luckily, he was informed that he could get a start-up visa to stay in China by the Public Security Bureau of Chengdu.

On July 13, Philip received his visa which allows him to stay in China for two years. Before the start-up visa, foreigners needed to have worked for 2 years before they could work in China.

Philip was thrilled to get the visa. “I feel really good right now. Thanks to the Public Security Bureau of Chengdu, I got the start-up visa and can stay in China to realize my dreams of teaching Chinese language,” he said.

In 2016, there were 10,796 international students in Sichuan province, 70 percent of whom were in Chengdu.

The new rules on industrial innovation state that international students are eligible to apply for a start-up visa if they were willing to stay in Sichuan to start their own business.

According to the Public Security Bureau, applications were only open to high-end talents before the new start-up visa, but now all international students in China may apply.