Chinese employers and officials are calling for changes to the
country's employment and residency laws to allow foreign students
from working in the country.
The calls follow a recruitment fair for foreign students in
Beijing, where 160 openings were offered in the finance, education,
medicine, information technology and media sectors.
The demands from both employers and employees are challenging
existing regulations that ban foreign students from part-time work
in China, and grant a working visa only after a foreign graduate
has gained work experience in his home country.
"We're calling for amendments to the old regulations as well as
references pertaining to the foreign employees' income levels and
compensation packages," said Lin Fan, an official in charge of
foreign students' services at Beijing higher education society.
The weekend fair was attended by 51 employers including Hong
Kong University and PepsiCo. and received more than 400 foreign
job-seekers, said Li Xiaohong, business development manageress of
China International Enterprises Cooperative Co., the organizer.
"By staging the fair, we aim to build a bridge between foreign
students who wish to work in China and companies in need of
international professionals," said Li.
The Sunday event coincided with the Chinese language proficiency
test (HSK), she said. "Many students visited the fair after the
test."
Sohu, a leading Chinese portal website, was looking for
multilingual professionals for its coverage of the 2008 Olympic
Games. A manager of Sohu's sports page said they would be expected
to put Chinese stories into English, French, Spanish and
Arabic.
The company had reached intent with four Arab students at
Sunday's fair, he said without giving details. "It wouldn't be easy
to find these professionals otherwise."
A student from the Republic of Korea (ROK) said he decided to
work in China even though his home country also needed
Chinese-proficient professionals. "I feel China offers more and
better opportunities," said the young man, whose Chinese name is Xu
Zaifan.
Beijing's education authority said about 40,000 foreign students
are studying in the Chinese capital. Most of those who intended to
stay said they wanted to work for foreign companies, particularly
the China branches of the big-name companies from their home
country.
Last year, 140,000 foreign students were studying at around 500
nationwide colleges and universities that open to foreigners.
The average salary expectation of Japanese and ROK students is
between US$800 and US$1,000 a month, while students from other
parts of Asia demand US$600, according to a survey by Beijing
Morning Post.
(Xinhua News Agency December 11, 2006)
