Figures released by the Chinese government departments have
shown China is becoming one of the world's most popular education
and employment destinations.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Education showed that in
2005, 141,000 overseas students came to China to study, up 27.28
percent from the previous year, with 86,679 studying Mandarin
(Putonghua).
"The year 2005 saw China attracting the largest number of
overseas students since the People's Republic of China was founded
in 1949, thanks to the country's stable political environment,
rapid economic growth and growing international influence," said
Zhang Xiuqin, secretary-general of the China Scholarship
Council.
Hong Chang-woo, a student of Beijing Language and Culture
University from South Korea, told Xinhua that a large number of
young people in South Korea are keen on studying Mandarin, as more
and more companies in South Korea require their employees to speak
Chinese.
Zhang said the residential environment, education quality and
medical and social insurance provided by Chinese higher learning
institutes for overseas students all reached international
standards. Meanwhile, China's tuition fees for overseas students
are much lower than those in most other countries.
Statistics from the Ministry of Education showed that from 1950
to 2005, China received a total of 884,315 overseas students.
But Zhang acknowledged that problems still exist. The Chinese
government has approved in principle overseas students applying for
part-time jobs in China but there are no regulations on how many
hours an overseas student can work a day and what kinds of
vocations or industries are open for overseas students to work
in.
Meanwhile, statistics from the Ministry of Labor and Social
Security showed that by the end of 2005, more than 150,000 overseas
employees had registered to work in China. 70 percent of them
worked in foreign-invested companies and they are mostly from
Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the US and European countries.
"The Chinese government encourages foreigners with special
technological, managerial skills that China is currently short of
to work in China," said Wang Yadong, deputy director of the
Employment Training Department of the Ministry of Labor and Social
Security.
According to the ministry, a majority of the foreigners work in
hi-tech, communication, and financing industries. There are more
than 500 multinational companies in Shanghai, with more than 40,000
foreign talents.
Kritian Kender, a business partner of a media research company
in China who has been working here for more than ten years said
there were no interesting jobs back in the US when he
graduated.
"It's not very difficult for foreigners to find jobs in China,"
he said, noting that to have an interesting job is more difficult
and even more difficult to start business because the procedure is
quite time consuming and complicated.
China issued a "green card" policy in 2004 for foreigner to have
long-term residence and work. By the end of September last year,
649 foreigners from 33 countries including the US, Canada,
Singapore, Japan and Australia had been granted permanent residence
in China.
(Xinhua News Agency June 12, 2006)
