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Jane Cai

Sylvie Zhuang

Computer science graduate Alain Saas is hoping a fourth time would be the charm to make his China dream come true.
As a youngster growing up in a small town in eastern France, the distant Asian country seemed a magical place. But trying to land a job in China has proved anything but enchanting.
Over the past 15 years, Saas has tried three times to find a suitable tech job in China, but in vain. The reasons ranged from low pay offers, visa issues or simply poor geopolitical timing.
But he has been feeling more optimistic lately. As China rolls out friendlier visa offers and appears poised to make more technological leaps, Saas – now in his forties –is ready to take his fourth shot.
“I am planning to double down on my search efforts next year after reaching HSK5 [working proficiency in Chinese],” said Saas, who is now on his second stint in Japan after working in Canada, the United States and across Europe.
“The ‘K Visa’ sounds good, though I may have passed the age limit … and given all that’s happening in technology in China, I’d be very excited to find something.”
As a global tech war intensifies the race for talent, Beijing has committed to becoming a magnet for the world’s skilled immigrants under its economic and social development blueprint for the next five years.
In the proposals for the country’s latest five-year plan released in October, Beijing said it would “establish an immigration system for highly skilled talent” and “attract and cultivate outstanding talent from around the world”.
The pledge – an upgrade on the previous five-year plan’s promise to merely “explore” tech immigration – came around the same time as the launch in October of the K visa, a streamlined pathway targeting young professionals in majors of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Details of the K visa have yet to be released, including the age limit, scope of scientific and technological fields or industries covered, the specific validity period and permitted length of stay, and residential requirements for visa holders.
According to census data, 845,000 foreign nationals lived in mainland China in 2020, or just 0.06 per cent of the total population. In contrast, 52 million immigrants were living in the United States as of June this year – about 15 per cent of the population.


At a time when the Trump administration has imposed US$100,000 fees on employers for new H-1B “speciality occupation” visa applicants, Beijing is positioning the K-visa as a lower-barrier alternative, requiring no employer sponsorship and providing potential fast-tracks to permanent residency, though details are awaited.
The policy is the centrepiece of China’s broader tech ambitions: to dominate “new quality productive forces” – a phrase coined by President Xi Jinping to emphasise innovation-driven economic development as the country’s workforce ages and US export curbs bite into chip and AI tool supplies. The future hurdles for research and development have made foreign expertise essential to China’s goals.
In 2024, China had more than 10 million research and development personnel, with the total number of “skilled talent” exceeding 220 million, according to official data. That combined with billions of dollars in state funding has sparked a series of technological advances over the past decade, most visibly in green energy, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence.
However, a shortage of high-level talent – such as top-tier scientists – remains an obstacle that must be addressed, according to Li Zuojun, a researcher with the Development Research Centre of the State Council, China’s cabinet.
The country should “expand international openness and cooperation in talent”, Li wrote in the official newspaper China Economic Times last month. The measures should include attracting global intellectual resources to help China innovate, improving hi-tech talent immigration policies, simplifying work permits and residence visas and creating a “liveable and workable environment” for talent development, he wrote.
However, China’s immigration apparatus may not be ready yet, observers and insiders warn.
“The K visa is a good start … but the local ecosystem is not ready to support it,” said David Chew, a Malaysian satellite-tech founder in his mid-thirties who is fluent in Chinese – in other words, an ideal candidate.
He started his business in Japan several years ago, after completing his education there and having worked for Japanese firms.
To rival the US, China needed “a standardised points system, multi-year certainty, flat tax rates and seed capital,” Chew said.
Without these, talent would be deterred by having to choose geopolitical sides, he cautioned. “Coming to China to a certain extent means saying bye to the Western world – like picking Huawei over iPhone.”
Chew predicted early winners: foreigners already in China on student visas, able to switch seamlessly, and “with experience already in place”. A second wave, he added, could come via entrepreneurship programmes offering English navigation and start-up grants.
In aerospace, the gap between rhetoric and reality has become stark. An executive at a private aviation start-up in Beijing, who declined to be named so he could comment freely, acknowledged there was demand but cited paralysing secrecy.
“We’re too closed-off; many units are classified,” he said. “We need international exchanges, but we do not dare recruit foreigners out of fear of leaks.”
In recent years, Beijing has tightened scrutiny over businesses by expanding national security laws, which now cover a broader range of activities and apply to both domestic and foreign companies.
Even non-state firms shunned outsiders socially and professionally, the executive said. Domestic workers largely sufficed unless foreigners offered R&D skills that could not be duplicated, and the job market’s cutthroat dynamic meant companies were not “desperate enough to take risks”.
The jobless rate for those aged 16 to 24 fell slightly to 17.3 per cent in October from 17.7 per cent in September, after climbing to 18.9 per cent in August – a 20-month high as a record number of graduates entered an already strained job market in a slowing economy.
Joseph Chamie, a demographer and former director of the UN Population Division, said that while many governments had tried to limit immigration, reduce foreign-born populations and address domestic unemployment concerns, they were also seeking to attract hi-tech migrants and benefit from “brain gains”.
China’s K visa programme stood in “stark contrast” to the US move to raise fees for H-1B visas, he said. However, for many hi-tech and highly educated potential migrants, the US remained a more attractive destination than China for various reasons, including language, a culture of immigration, long-term opportunities and lifestyle, Chamie added.
“Nevertheless, China’s increasing efforts to attract STEM-talented migrants are likely to achieve some success especially if the US makes it more costly and difficult for foreign skilled migrants,” he said.
Sourabh Gupta, a senior policy specialist with the Institute for China-America Studies in Washington, said: “The intentions are certainly good; whether the policy turns out to be a success is a different matter, and I lean on the sceptical side of things in this regard.”
“By shooting for young, ambitious talent, the opportunity to build long-term collaborative relationships that span borders has now opened up. Done right, the K visa will not only enrich China’s science and technology ecosystem but could perhaps even incubate a rare few next-generation tech superstars of non-Chinese origin,” Gupta said.
“But the barriers to success are high too,” he cautioned. “The ‘Great Firewall’ [blocked internet access to the outside world], the ‘996’ [9am to 9pm six days a week] work-life balance, the relative lack of English proficiency or even signage in Chinese cities and so on are only the most immediate.”
“On unconventional immigration initiatives such as the K visa, the government needs to adopt a liberal mindset of ‘setting it free’ … Whether this is even possible within the Chinese system remains to be seen,” he said. “There must be trust, too, among foreign STEM talent that their inventions and discoveries will be adequately protected.”
It is not easy for a foreigner to get a visa to live in China. The application process is complex, requiring navigation of local regulations and submission of extensive documentation, including job contracts and proof of qualifications, all of which are then thoroughly scrutinised by the authorities.
Under China’s immigration regulations, foreigners who have held senior positions – such as deputy general manager or an equivalent role – for at least four consecutive years and have lived in China for at least three years with a good tax record are eligible to apply for permanent residency.
Those who have made significant and outstanding contributions to China or who are urgently needed by the country are also eligible.
In August, Beijing announced a new category of K visas for young science and technology talent from overseas, which took effect on October 1. Eligible applicants include STEM graduates from recognised universities or research institutions worldwide who hold at least a bachelor’s degree or young professionals engaged in relevant education or research at such institutions.
There is no requirement for a Chinese employer or inviter at the application stage. Holders of K visas can be engaged in education, research, cultural exchange, entrepreneurship or business in China.
Ruby Osman, a policy adviser and China expert at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said visas were just one of the obstacles faced by foreign talent. Increasing research openness, providing a clearer regulatory environment and tackling language barriers would be essential if China was to become an attractive long-term talent destination.
The “opening up” policy in immigration was also politically delicate, as there was a domestic trade-off, she noted. Bringing in new talent could be a tough sell when China’s own STEM graduates were already struggling to find jobs.
“That means Beijing will need to walk a fine line – promoting the K visa as proof of openness abroad while reassuring audiences at home that any impact will be carefully controlled.”
The K visa is a step in the right direction but more details on the specific requirements and clarity on permitted activities would be key in determining its success, according to Ioana Kraft, chair of the human resources working group at the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.
She said that hiring local Chinese workers had become an established practice for Western companies operating in China.
“Hiring foreign nationals has been deprioritised by many chamber members, a large percentage of whom have taken the decision to localise their workforce.
“This is partly due to compensation packages for foreign nationals being higher, but also a reflection of the fact that Chinese staff tend to have a better understanding of the China market, while also having a language advantage,” Kraft added.
Back in 2009, Saas’ first attempt to make it to China fizzled out after the salary offers did not meet his expectations. In 2015, a visa issue prevented him from attending a face-to-face interview. Then, a global tech giant that had posted a position downsized its China operations. These days, he says his job searches have turned up fewer openings.
“There seem to be no more or very few foreign companies hiring foreigners, few job postings in English, and in general the feeling I get is that the hiring of ‘foreign talent’ is mostly geared towards Chinese returning from studying or living abroad,” he said.
“In G7 countries all jobs are easy to find on [social media], in English, which is very convenient, but China is unfortunately disconnected from that.”
“So I am trying to slowly grow a network in China and hoping someone will eventually be able to connect me to an opportunity. While still working hard on my Chinese, hoping it will eventually pay off,” he said.


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China

Beijing’s revamped entry scheme is the centrepiece of a quest to close a critical skills gap, but insiders say more barriers must come down


Beijing’s revamped entry scheme is the centrepiece of a quest to close a critical skills gap, but insiders say more barriers must come down.


China is betting on the K visa as a magnet for top tech talent. Will it be enough?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Beijing’s revamped entry scheme is the centrepiece of a quest to close a critical skills gap, but insiders say more barriers must come down

Beijing’s revamped entry scheme is the centrepiece of a quest to close a critical skills gap, but insiders say more barriers must come down