Non-native postgraduates who graduated from universities in Shanghai this year can directly apply for local hukou, or permanent residence, if they work in the city's five new cities and free trade zone and meet some basic conditions, the Shanghai Student Affairs Center has announced.

The pilot program has been introduced to support the five new cities in Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang and Fengxian districts as well as Nanhui of the Pudong New Area to attract high-quality talent, according to the center.

Currently, the population size of the five new cities is between 300,000 and 750,000, and their vision is to increase the number to around 1 million.