BEIJING, March 20 -- China will relax its policies of awarding permanent residency permits, or Chinese Green Cards, to expatriates, an official said on Thursday.

"We're working on adopting more flexible policies of granting Chinese green cards, with the hope of attracting more overseas Chinese back to the country," Qiu Yuanping, head of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a press conference.

The current Green Card system has been implemented for nearly 10 years, Qiu said, adding improvements will be made to make it easier when applying for permanent residency in China.

Qiu said authorities will tighten the protection of domestic investments by overseas Chinese and help their residence in the country in terms of education, employment and social insurance.

China promulgated a new regulation in 2013 to facilitate the entry and exit for foreign nationals, such as increasing visa types.