Center helps improve expat services

Writer: Han Ximin  | Editor: Holly Wang  | From:  | Updated: 2019-01-28

Members of the expat volunteer service team take a group photo during the cruise tour around Shekou Peninsula on Friday. Xiao Zhihao

With drinks and fruit salads in hand, 25 expat volunteers in Shekou, along with their families and friends, went onto the deck of a cruise ship sailing from Shekou Cruise Homeport on Friday to enjoy the afternoon sunshine.

During a 100-minute sea tour around the Shekou Peninsula, the expats took photos and enjoyed the sunshine and breeze, while appreciating spectacular views along the coast, such as Shekou Container Terminal, Shenzhen Bay Cross-sea Bridge, Shenzhen Mangrove Nature Reserve and skyscrapers like the China Resources Building in booming Houhai.

Through the host’s introduction of the spots they passed by and stories about Shekou, the expatriate residents got to learn more about the place they live.

“This sea trip is a team-building activity to express our thanks for their voluntary efforts and involvement in our neighborhood activities for expats over the past year,” said Yang Yan, director of Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats under the Shekou Subdistrict Office, during an interview.

In the WeChat group, volunteer Bani Sharma thanked the center for bringing the old and new friends together for a wonderful afternoon, as well as the center’s effort in making Shekou a home for expats.

In a move to create a more livable community for expats, Shekou Management and Service Center for Expats was established in 2017, offering residence registration processing and legal consultation services to foreigners living in Shekou, the most densely-populated area for expatriates in the city. It has an expat volunteer team that participates in a variety of neighborhood activities, seminars for foreign residents and cultural exchange festivals.

“In our daily work, expats often come to our office to inquire about disputes regarding rental housing, labor contracts and international marriages, and we help them contact lawyers or arrange seminars to solve their puzzles and difficulties,” Yang said.

Through its volunteer team, and other service channels like its hotline and WeChat account, the center directly serves more than 9,000 foreigners in the Shekou area, providing reliable and authentic inquiry services for expat residents.