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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Is China becoming more or less attractive to foreigners?
Take it back to 2006, when I first arrived in China.
Foreigners were considered a novelty almost everywhere (even in Beijing). Many foreigners came for the luxury packages they were offered (corporate) or the decent packages offered (ESL teaching). The cost of living was considerably lower and China was still a bit innocent in many ways. In smaller cities, you wouldn't find many cars... clubs or fast good restaurants.
Fast forward to today and it is very different. Many foreigners are getting replaced with "sea turtles", kicked out of China due to new polices or just find the censorship/inflation to be too much.
What do you think? Is China trying to make themselves more welcoming to foreigners or more hostile?
Personally, I think the latter....
Less attractive.
I'm too lazy to google it but there have been articles written about how expats are leaving, or just not coming in the same numbers.
I also know that ESL schools and recruiters are having a harder time attracting teachers and filling positions, or at least positions requiring native speakers.
A lot of the reasons given are predictable enough... pollution, lack of usable internet, food safety scares etc but there is also the fact that China is tightening its visa requirements and setting up more hoops to jump through to get a visa.
I don't know what the intention really is but from an ESL point of view at least (because that's the field I know about) schools are now having to compete with Japan, Korea, Taiwan etc .Before they had the advantage of China being a lot less hassle to come to, now they don't have that advantage, the requirements are much the same and people seem to be making the obvious choice.
Can't really say yet. They keep announcing new plans. For example, Guangzhou say that any foreigner applying for their third consecutive work permit related RP will be eligible for a new type of D visa. Or something like that. They keep saying things will change, but things never do. Certainly not on the "make it easier" side at least.
With the loss of the HK visa route, I would say China is a lot less attractive than before to people wanting to stay here longer term.
And if the SCS kicks off, I reckon we will all be kicked out.
ironman510:
Than the expert permit will be gone and then we start the new ID working permit card April 1st for all of China while the test drive starts this OCT 1st. So we'll see if we are an A, B or C.
Less attractive.
I'm too lazy to google it but there have been articles written about how expats are leaving, or just not coming in the same numbers.
I also know that ESL schools and recruiters are having a harder time attracting teachers and filling positions, or at least positions requiring native speakers.
A lot of the reasons given are predictable enough... pollution, lack of usable internet, food safety scares etc but there is also the fact that China is tightening its visa requirements and setting up more hoops to jump through to get a visa.
I don't know what the intention really is but from an ESL point of view at least (because that's the field I know about) schools are now having to compete with Japan, Korea, Taiwan etc .Before they had the advantage of China being a lot less hassle to come to, now they don't have that advantage, the requirements are much the same and people seem to be making the obvious choice.
Yes and the important reason is internet limitation. If you are in China you cannot use communicate with people living outside China.
RandallFlagg:
You can... Skype works without VPN and for sites like Facebook etc you can get access with a small amount of effort.
the speed and aggravation of ads and junk on the internet is getting a lot worse. I dont see how it can continue but it does.
Training schools don't want good foreign teachers, they come with standards. I'm not going to go into that mess here. Amazingly many adult students (smaller cities) just don't complain. But eitherway from what I've noticed schools hire more more eastern Europeans and shift their focus to children, especially 13-16 year olds. In my city, no training school offers legal full time employment.
Yes and the biggest single reason is that the exchange rate against foreign currencies is now far worse than before coupled with ever increasing prices in China. This has created an economic double whammy that has eroded the biggest advantage of living in China. In many cases, the prices in China now exceed the corresponding price for many western goods or commodities. Thankfully, many service functions are still relatively cheap.
Attitudes to foreigners has changed in many locations but some of that is down to the sheer number of foreign nationals now living in China. I also think that the penny has now finally dropped with many Chinese that most foreigners that come to work in China are not walking ATM machines and, in many cases, native Chinese nationals are far better off. Obviously, in smaller second and third tier cities, it will take longer for those attitudes to eek out of society.
I don't think that internet is such a big issue. Yes, the speed is slow but not to the extent that it becomes an obstacle for foreigners living here. As for banned sites, VPN's are so widely available that for the vast majority of foreign nationals, it is a non issue.