Actually, there is a new long term visa as well. You have to have a sponsor ( like a place of work )

The plus is that you only have to renew it every 3 or 4 years. It allows you to take out a loan from a Chinese bank, obtain a Chinese credit card and do all the other fun things here in China that foreigners usually can't do. ( like own property and rent it out ) It's not a well known or advertised visa, but I know it exists. It's the closest thing to immigration to China.