Govt Eases Rules on Working Visas for Foreign Students Trending

Nation seeks to attract more global talents

Foreign students in China who meet certain qualifications can get work permits without any working experience overseas, a move to help the country tap into more international talents, an expert said on Friday. 

The Ministry of Human Resources and Society Security, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly announced on Thursday that authorities would allow some foreign students without working experience to find jobs in China, domestic news site thepaper.cn reported on Friday.

The new policy is in line with globalization, which further lowers the barriers for foreign students who obtain a master's degrees or above from a well-known Chinese university, according to the media report.  

"It's a significant progress in attracting international talents to China, as there is still a huge gap in the number of Chinese students studying overseas and foreign students in China," Miao Lü, executive secretary-general of the Beijing-based think tank the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), told the Global Times on Friday. 

She noted that the gap is mainly due to a lack of courses taught in English and limitation on employment for foreign students, but attracting international talents is an important step in globalization. 

In 2015, there were 1.26 million Chinese students studying aboard, accounting for 25 percent of the total international students, but the total number of foreign students in China was about 398,000, according to the annual report on the development of Chinese students studying aboard published on the CCG's website in December 2016. Although there have been some encouraging policies in terms of scholarships, there are obstacles in attracting more foreign students, the report showed.

The new policy is good news for foreign students, as it will be easier for them to look for jobs, a foreign student studying in Beijing from India told the Global Times on Friday. 

"More people may come to study in China because it will be easier to find jobs," he said. 

Although China produces about 7 million university graduates annually, not many of them could contribute to companies' growth, especially when it comes to high-end industries, Miao noted. 

"In addition, as more and more Chinese companies are going out, they surely need international perspectives, and foreign talents will contribute to it," she said. - Global Times

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