The service, IT and media industries have overtaken the education industry as major job sources for expats in China, according to figures from the 2019 Job Fair for Foreigners in Beijing.
The job fair, organised on Sunday (April 21) by the Foreign Talent Research Centre and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, has nearly 1,000 jobs available in a range of professions, and attracted more than 500 expats.
The expat job market - once dominated by language teachers - has seen a major shift.
Approximately half the jobs available at the fair were in the sales, media, marketing and IT sectors, including openings for journalists, brand and communication managers and software engineers.
Last year marked the first time China's giant IT and Internet sector - led by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. - has cut back on job ads since 2015, the study showed.
The income gap between expats and Chinese employees in the same positions has been reduced in past decades. In the 2000s, the annual salary of a foreign employee would be five to 10 times higher than that of a Chinese employee, but the gap is narrower now at about two to three times, partly because salaries paid to Chinese have risen faster than expat salaries.
Statistics from the State administration showed that China has attracted expats from Asian and European countries because of its rapid economic growth and a widening range of opportunities.
Data collected from the previous 10 years at the Beijing job fair showed that more than 50 per cent of job seekers are from European countries, with a majority from Spain and Portugal, while about 25 per cent are from Asian countries, with a majority from India.
Last year, China issued about 336,000 work permits to foreigners. China had a total of more than 950,000 expats working in the country as at the end of last year, according to the administration. By comparison, there were only 180,000 foreign workers employed in China in 1996.
Following changes to visa rules, foreigners of Chinese origin will be able to apply for visas valid for multiple entries over a period of five years, up from one year previously.
The service, IT and media industries have overtaken the education industry as major job sources for expats in China, according to figures from the 2019 Job Fair for Foreigners in Beijing.
The job fair, organised on Sunday (April 21) by the Foreign Talent Research Centre and the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, has nearly 1,000 jobs available in a range of professions, and attracted more than 500 expats.
The expat job market - once dominated by language teachers - has seen a major shift.
Last year marked the first time China's giant IT and Internet sector - led by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. - has cut back on job ads since 2015, the study showed.
Data collected from the previous 10 years at the Beijing job fair showed that more than 50 per cent of job seekers are from European countries, with a majority from Spain and Portugal, while about 25 per cent are from Asian countries, with a majority from India.
