CHANGCHUN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian businessman Ruslan, who has been in China for six years but speaks Chinese poorly, found it much easier to renew his work visa with the help of a Russian clerk at a service center.
His helper was Marina, a clerk at the international talent service center of Hunchun City in northeast China's Jilin Province. She provides help and service to people like Ruslan.
"Without them, I don't know when I would complete the renewal," said Ruslan, a dealer of Chinese commodities. "Local government departments offer good services and are quite efficient."
Marina and her Chinese colleague accompanied Ruslan to the government departments of human resources, market monitoring and public security of Hunchun to handle his business license and work visa affairs.
Marina, whose spouse is Chinese, became a full-time employee of the Hunchun talent service center in 2015. There is another part-time Russian employee at the center.
About 1,000 Russians live in Hunchun, a Chinese port bordering Russia. The border city has attracted a growing number of foreign tourists.
Marina's daily work includes helping tourists and Russians living in Hunchun. She has helped tourists who have lost contact with their groups and taught local Russians how to pay tap water and electricity fees.
"Due to language problems, a simple matter may be complicated," she said.
Besides the two Russians, the center has more than 10 Chinese workers. Since it was set up in 2013, it has handled more than 2,000 consultation cases and 179 tourist complaints.
Newspapers, TV stations and banks in Hunchun have Russian employees to facilitate work and business, highlighting the international style of the town.
As China continues to open up, a few cities have piloted the recruitment of foreigners for such posts in city management and investment promotion in recent years.
For example, Foshan City in the southern Guangdong Province hired four foreigners to undertake investment promotion work in 2014.
