In this guide:
China is an amazing travel destination. But is it someplace you’d like to live as a fresh grad? Is it where you’d like to launch your career?
The best way to know is by testing the waters: go to China for a summer language course or study abroad program and stay for at least a semester.
In addition, think carefully about what you want to learn and achieve in this stage of your life and career. To give you a hand, here are some pros and cons you may want to consider.
The main reason foreign talent flows into China is for job opportunities. As the second largest economy in the world – and with many parts of the country still developing – China may have more job opportunities than your home country.
Working in China will also allow you to become fluent in Chinese and give you an understanding of one of the largest markets in the world, raising your job prospects even if you decide to leave the country later on.
If experiencing a different culture has a way of making you grow in unexpected ways, then living and working in a country as different and dynamic as China will force you to grow beyond your wildest expectations.
For example:
These are all things you’ll only gain if you step outside your comfort zone.
Pollution aside, you will enjoy a high standard of living in China. While fancy expat packages are becoming less common, you will still be making enough money to save and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.
As a point of reference, you can easily eat out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for under $15 USD in Beijing! Public transportation is also excellent and inexpensive, meaning you won’t have trouble getting anywhere you need.
You may be wondering what life in China is like as a woman. As a result of recent history, women in China are generally more respected than in neighboring countries such as Japan and Korea.
In fact, women hold 38% of senior executive positions in China – higher than the US and much of the EU. Many expat women also report feeling safe exploring China’s big cities late into the night – partly because there are always people everywhere anyways!
However, expect some differences in how women are treated in rural areas and developed cities.
While China has significantly reduced air pollution in the past decade, poor air quality is still a major drawback to life there. So if you regularly spend large amounts of time outdoors, you’ll either want to pass on China or find a job in one of its less polluted cities.
Another disadvantage of living in China is that you will lose some of the personal freedoms you are used to.
A case in point is the “Great Firewall” – a combination of tools that the Chinese government uses to block access to foreign websites such as Google, Facebook, Youtube, and Wikipedia.
In response to the government’s increasingly tight grip over the internet, expats have become more cautious about expressing their views about anything remotely political in recent years – even over private messaging apps.
So if self-censorship is not something you’re OK with, China may not be for you.
Work culture in this part of the world can be intense, and China is no exception. Overtime is the norm, and many workplaces expect you to put in extra hours on weekends as well – often for no pay. Many foreigners end up leaving China for this reason.
But if you don’t mind hustling during your twenties, then it shouldn’t be a problem for you. And if you do mind – in such an exciting country, who wants to spend all their waking hours at a job? – there are ways you can avoid this problem, which we’ll go over later.
Compared to companies in the West, Chinese companies invest less in their employees’ learning and development – especially at the entry level.
So China may not be the best place for professional development early in your career.
There are many visas for entering China. To legally work for a company, you will need a “Z Visa.” The “Z” stands for “renZhi” — the Chinese word for “taking up a post or a position.”
In addition, the Chinese government has a three-tier system for classifying foreign workers. You will likely fall under “Tier B” which means that in addition to your bachelor’s degree, you also need at least two years of relevant work experience.
Yes, unfortunately, Chinese regulations do require you to have work experience. So as a fresh grad, you may want to consider:
If you are fine with delaying your career in China, you can consider:
There are two parts to applying for a Z visa. To be safe, allow at least two months for the whole process from start to finish.
First, you need your employer to have the local labor bureau issue you a “Work Notice” or “Notification Letter.” This proves that you have been invited to work in China.
You’ll be asked to provide documents such as:
Expect this process to take about a month – longer if it’s your employer’s first time applying for a Work Notice.
Once you have received your Work Notice, you can apply for a Z visa with your local Chinese embassy or consulate.
You’ll need to submit:
Check with the embassy or consulate for the most up-to-date information. HROne’s work visa guide is also very helpful.
Keep in mind the Z visa is only valid for 90 days, so if you get it too soon, it may expire before you can fly to China!
Whatever you do, do not work illegally in China.
Don’t risk it. If you get caught, you could be fined, detained, or deported. And even if you get away with it, your gray legal status will cause other complications down the line, which we’ll get into later.
A proper employer will always make sure you have a Z visa to enter the country. Do not accept anything less than that.
As a fresh graduate, you will mainly be looking at job opportunities in China’s largest cities. The exception is if you are a foreign language teacher, in which case you may have more options in smaller cities.
The Chinese government conducts a large-scale annual survey to determine which cities foreign expats find most attractive.
Here are the results from the 2021 survey, along with links that introduce the local economy:
Let’s now look at the ”Tier 1 cities” on the list: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Tier 1 cities are the most developed and wealthiest cities in China, so you can also expect them to have the highest salaries and costs of living.
As a young expat in these megacities, you can also look forward to a wider selection of job opportunities, excellent public transportation, and a vibrant social scene.
Beijing and Shanghai are China’s premier cities. They have similar salary ranges and costs of living, and they’re both in a class of their own when it comes to how international they are compared to the rest of the country.
However, there are some differences which you may want to consider:
Shenzhen and Guangzhou are the two largest cities in southern China. They’re both ranked among the top 10 most millennial-friendly cities in the Asia Pacific for their affordability and wealth of work opportunities.
Shenzhen is well-known for its booming start-up scene, while Guangzhou is home to a range of industries, such as high-tech manufacturers who need foreign talent to market their products to the world.
As cities in southern China, they also have more pleasant winters but hot, humid summers. Pollution is still a problem, but much less so than in Beijing and Shanghai. Nature is also more accessible as these cities are surrounded by beautiful natural landscapes.
People in Shenzhen and Guangzhou are also known to be friendlier and more relaxed than those in Beijing and Shanghai.
The rest of the cities in the top 10 list are considered “Tier 2 cities”: Hangzhou, Xi’an, Chengdu, Ningbo, Suzhou, and Qingdao.
We won’t go into them in as much detail, since they have fewer job opportunities for foreign graduates. But if you do come across a job opportunity in one of these cities, don’t pass on it just because it’s a Tier 2 city!
Tier 2 cities in China are still economic powerhouses by any standards. To give you an idea, Hangzhou has a larger population than Paris and a GDP larger than countries like Finland and Vietnam!
This second-tier status also makes these cities work harder to attract international talent. Their efforts have been paying off, as shown by the fact that these cities have quickly risen in popularity among both expats and locals who find them more livable than other parts of China.
While job opportunities are plenty, finding a job in China is not for the faint of heart. For starters, you will be competing with 12 million Chinese fresh grads for jobs.
So before you even make your resume, think carefully about why a company there would want to hire you. Ask yourself “What can I do that a Chinese national who graduated from a university abroad cannot do?”
In other words, what unique value can you bring to a company or organization there? Start with some general answers like the following:
Then, think about industries that might be interested in hiring you. According to China Highlights, these are the top industries that hire foreigners:
Of these industries, are there any that you are particularly interested in? For example, if you’ve been tinkering with computer parts since a young age, you may be interested in helping a Chinese hardware company sell its products to foreign markets.
Then, reach out to people actually in China to learn about what opportunities are available. You can find China-based professionals on Linkedin or in your school’s alumni network. These can be expats or locals, such as a Chinese alumnus from your school.
If you see anyone you’re interested in speaking with, don’t be shy! Introduce yourself, explain your interest in working in China, and ask for a chat. You may even hear about a job opening this way!
Wages vary widely across the country. To keep things simple, let’s focus on entry-level pay for foreign employees in Tier 1 cities.
According to FDI China, here are the entry-level pay ranges you can expect for common roles in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen:
It is the custom in China to pay employees’ at least an extra month of salary each year as a fixed bonus. This will be stated in your contract.
Remember to keep taxes in mind when figuring out your take-home salary. Check out this tax calculator for foreign employees and the PRC’s guide to taxation. Hint: you get a 5,000 RMB tax deduction each month along with deductions for expenses like language training and rent.
Besides salary, you’ll also want to pay attention to other aspects of your compensation package, such as housing allowances and health insurance coverage.
A great company will also help cover the costs of a yearly return flight back to your home country and give you a couple of weeks of home leave.
Here are well-established job sites that expats use to find jobs in China:
There are also job boards run by companies that specialize in helping Chinese firms hire foreign talent.
If you’re looking specifically for teaching jobs, check out China by Teaching, which lists all kinds of teaching jobs across China.
If you already know what city you want to be in, you can also check out job sites specific to the city. For example, the following sites all have a classified section:
Depending on what kind of job you’re looking for, you may also want to take a look at job boards that Chinese people use.
Some of the most popular options are 51job, Liepin, and Zhaopin, and the good news is many of them have specific parts of their website dedicated to jobs for fresh grads. For example:
Then, there are sites that specialize in jobs for fresh grads. These include:
Lastly, there are companies that help upcoming university graduates get jobs at top Chinese companies. They promise to guide you through the whole process with career counseling, training courses, and other services. For example:
For jobs not specifically for fresh grads, you can also check out the following:
Most in-person job fairs are held in China’s Tier 1 cities and a handful are held online. These are the main ones:
There are also job fairs specific to the education industry, where you can apply to and interview with many schools in one go. Here are some popular ones:
The Chamber of Commerce from your country may also host job fairs. For example, the German Chamber hosted one in 2020.
According to eChinaCities, here are seven big companies in China that hire foreign talent:
In sum:
You can also reach out to companies from your country that are hiring in their China office.
You may be wondering if you need to speak fluent Chinese to work in China. For expats being sent over to fill senior management positions or highly specialized roles, the answer is a strong “no.”
But if you’re a fresh grad without much work experience, you’ll want to learn some Chinese. You don’t need to be 100% fluent. After all, if a company needed someone with great language skills, they would just hire a Chinese national who studied abroad.
At least know the basics though. Speaking some Chinese shows that you respect the culture and can mingle with your future colleagues without causing too many misunderstandings.
Better yet, get an HSK certificate to prove your knowledge of Chinese. A Chinese company deciding between two fresh grads with similar backgrounds would hire the one with an HSK certificate in a heartbeat.
If you haven’t already, set up a free account on China’s most popular messaging app WeChat. Make sure to use a professional-looking profile photo and your real name. Also, include a link to your Linkedin profile in the bio section.
You will need WeChat for your job hunt, because:
Unfortunately, there are many scammers in China who try to make money under the guise of helping foreigners get jobs there. There are many red flags you can look out for.
In general, if you haven’t heard of the company you’re applying for, do some research. Look them up and find reviews by people who’ve worked there.
Resumes in China follow a similar format as resumes in other parts of the world. Here are some of the main differences:
Whether you’re submitting a resume in English or Chinese, include a Chinese name next to your English one. This will show the hiring manager that you know some Chinese.
For more information on preparing a Chinese resume. See LTL Mandarin School’s CV guide.
In any interview, you will want to show the company why you are a good fit for the job. If you’re interviewing for a foreign or westernized company in China, you may not have to worry about much.
However, if you’re interviewing for a local company, here are three specific things that you want to convey:
Also, make sure you go the extra mile to be respectful. Here are some ways to do this:
Finally, your interview is also an opportunity for you to screen the company as well.
Assuming you’ve found a decent company to work at, you can expect what’s called a “965” work schedule. This means you work from 9 am to 6 pm, five days a week. You’ll also likely have a 1.5-2 hour lunch break, during which time many people will take naps.
You will also be fairly compensated for any overtime hours. Under Chinese labor law, this means you’re paid 150% of your normal salary for weekday overtime, 200% for weekend overtime, and 300% for overtime on public holidays.
However, if you work for a competitive tech company, the “996” schedule is more common: you work from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week, and you may not be paid for working overtime. This is technically illegal according to Chinese labor law, but companies have figured out a variety of workarounds.
That said, not everyone actually works 12 hours a day. At some companies, many employees spend their overtime surfing the internet and taking advantage of perks such as free meals and taxi rides home!
So it really all boils down to your particular situation: the industry you’re in, the company you work for, the specific team you’re on, who your manager is, and so on. (Hint: Teams filled with foreign staff and led by foreign managers usually enjoy more normal working hours.)
In China, labor law allows for five days of annual leave for employees that have been with a company for under 10 years. Workers technically are not entitled to any leave during their first year of employment.
How much annual leave you get – and when you start being eligible for it – depends on your employer. Just make sure you don’t sign a contract that gives you under five days of annual leave.
You should also make sure your contract states that you are entitled to public holidays separate from annual leave. There are seven public holidays which amount to a total of 11 days off:
The dates for most of these holidays vary each year depending on the Chinese lunar calendar. But you are always entitled to 11 days of public holidays.
If you work for a company that hires a lot of foreign staff, you may also get Western holidays, such as Christmas. And as a woman, you may get half a day off for International Women’s Day on March 8! It all depends on your contract.
Keep in mind that some work on weekends is standard around certain holidays. For example, if Chinese New Year occurs on a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, wouldn’t you want to have Thursday and Friday off too? Well, to “earn” those two days off, it is standard to work two extra days on the weekend before or after the holiday.
Paid sick leave policies are similar to other countries – you will need a doctor’s note. The amount of sick leave you are entitled to depends on your employer, but if you have a severe illness, labor law allows for a maximum of three months of leave during your first year of employment, with an extra month for every year you’ve been at the company.
With their large expat populations, Tier 1 cities have many opportunities for networking. You can find networking events that are specific to your industry, your job function, and your country.
Try looking on various Chamber of Commerce websites for different countries. They’ll usually host workshops and other events, where you can meet like-minded people. They also host networking events for young professionals.
As it turns out, the Z visa just gets you into China for 30 days. There are a few more administrative things you need to do so that you can stay in the country past that.
For public security reasons, you must register the address you are temporarily staying at with the local police. This must be done within 24 hours of arrival or you may be fined.
One exception is if you are staying in a hotel, in which case the staff will do this for you. In some cities – such as Shanghai – you can simply register online.
After you have registered with the police, you can get your work permit. Make sure it is valid for at least one year or else you will have problems setting up a bank account later.
Finally, after doing all of the above, you can apply for your residence permit. This is the actual visa that lets you stay in China long-term.
It will take at least two weeks for your application to be approved. You can learn more about this step of the process at TravelChinaGuide.com.
You’ll also want to get a Chinese number as soon as possible. Because China is a mobile-first nation, your phone number is literally a gateway into life there.
Many services are available only through phone apps (not desktop websites) and you’ll need a local number to sign up for them. You’ll also need a Chinese number to connect to wifi hotspots.
However, since you don’t have a permanent address yet, you won’t be able to sign up for a long-term phone contract. So for now, make do with a prepaid SIM card (passport required) from one of China’s three major telecom companies:
Since many establishments in China no longer take cash payments, you’ll also want to set up a mobile payment app as soon as possible.
In China, the main ones are WeChat Pay and Alipay. We suggest going with WeChat Pay since it comes with the WeChat app which you’ve probably already downloaded, and you can use it indefinitely without a local bank account. (Alipay is valid for international users for only 90 days.)
Don’t fall for the trap of committing to a long-term housing solution before you arrive. Many online listings are dated at best and scams at worst, so always visit a property before you decide on anything.
While you’re shopping around for housing, it’s best to find a place to stay in the short-term. We recommend staying at a reputable hotel or serviced apartment.
Interestingly, a hotel may actually be more affordable than a short-term rental, which usually requires you to pay a deposit worth one month of rent and prepay 2-3 months of rent upfront. Plus, hotels come with cleaning services and all the furniture you need.
If you still want to consider other short-term rental options, keep in mind that Airbnb is no longer an option in China. However, there are plenty of other local platforms that you can use. Ziroom is an option that has an English version, and if you are comfortable searching in Chinese, you can try other sites such as Mayi, Xiaozhu, Muniao, Meituan, and Tujia.
If you want to keep in touch with friends and family outside China, you’ll want to set up a “VPN.” VPN is short for “virtual private network” and it is a tool you will need to access websites like Facebook and Youtube from inside China.
So if you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe to a VPN service. Here are some popular options:
Note that China has been cracking down on VPNs, so a VPN that works now might not work later.
Remember, big Chinese cities are essentially gigantic megacities. So you’ll need to spend some time narrowing down the neighborhoods you want to settle in.
To help you decide, here are median rent prices for a centrally-located one-bedroom apartment in each Tier 1 city, according to Numbeo:
These are the prices that you would expect to pay for rent if you wanted to live in a central business district with access to a wide variety of bars, restaurants, and nightlife.
If budget is a concern, rest assured that you can find cheaper housing farther out. Here are the median rent prices for one-bedroom apartments that are less central:
There is also the option of shared flats if you want to save even more on rent.
When deciding between different neighborhoods, we recommend visiting them during morning rush hour to see how difficult it is to get on public transport so you have an accurate idea of how long your future commute will be.
After you’ve decided where you want to live, you will want to find an apartment. Start your search by looking on websites for expats. For example, you can try Flat in China.
You can also look on city-specific sites, such as:
Some of these listings are posted directly by landlords themselves while others are posted by real estate agents. It’s better to go through these real estate agents (than random real estate agents you find on the street) as they have more experience serving expats.
If you want to find an apartment like a local, check out these popular housing platforms:
Most of the sites so far also include listings for shared accommodations.
Whatever platform you use, watch out for scams. Here are the most common rental scams according to Smart Shanghai:
See this guide by Flat in China for more tips on renting in China.
Let’s say you’ve decided on an apartment. First, ask for the contract in advance so you can get help understanding it before you sign anything.
You could have a friend or coworker explain the contract to you or get a certified translation of it. Just keep in mind that if there are any discrepancies between the original and the translation, only the Chinese version of the contract is binding.
Here are some things to pay attention to:
Then, make sure you have enough money to pay for the deposit and 2-3 months of rent on top of any agency fees (usually half a month’s worth of rent).
On the day of the signing, here are some things you should do:
Now, you must update the public security authorities on where you live. This process is similar to the first visit you made to the local police station, except this time you will also need to bring:
Unless you live in a serviced apartment, your utilities will be separate from your rent. These include water, gas, electricity, and an internet connection.
Start by contacting the local utility offices to transfer the accounts to your name. Methods of payment vary across regions. Some cities let you pay with your phone while others allow you to top up a pre-paid card.
After you’ve moved into your apartment, it’s time to set up a bank account. Here are some things to consider when choosing a bank:
Here are the top four banks in China:
It’s usually better to go with one of these as they have the most branches and ATMs in the country. Foreign banks such as HSBC and Citibank are less convenient in this sense.
Always call in advance to double-check what documents you need to bring. Depending on the bank you may need the following:
Since you can only bring $5,000 USD or 20,000RMB in cash into the country, you may need some cash to tide you over until your first paycheck arrives. Luckily, moving money into a Chinese bank account is not hard. You can do this via:
You may not need to move money out of China for the time being. But it’s still good to know how it works so you can plan ahead.
Basically, to move money out of a Chinese bank, you will need to prove to the bank that:
To prove this, you may need to provide documents including but not limited to your monthly tax payment slips and receipts, your official employment contract with a company seal or signature, and payroll slips from the company.
This is another reason it is critical to find a company that actually sponsors a work permit and pays you through proper channels (i.e. not under-the-table cash payments). Working for a shady Chinese company will only be a source of endless problems in the long run.
Contrary to popular belief, “Chinese” is not just one language. It is actually a language family that includes hundreds of related languages.
The official language of China is known as “Mandarin Chinese,” “standard Chinese” or “Putonghua.” Because it is used in formal speeches, public education, and government settings, most Chinese people are able to speak it or at least understand it.
However, Mandarin is not the language most people use in informal settings. For example, in southern China, including Guangzhou and Shenzhen, people speak Cantonese at home. This is the second most commonly spoken Chinese language and it’s actually an official language in Hong Kong and Macau.
And in Shanghai, people speak Shanghainese. There are even different varieties of it depending on which part of Shanghai you’re from!
If this sounds complicated, just think of China like Europe. There are many languages in Europe that are related, such as Spanish and French. People from Spain can catch bits and pieces of what someone from France says. But for the most part, their native tongues are not mutually intelligible. This is the case for Chinese people from different regions as well.
Since less than 1% of people in China speak English, learning at least some survival phrases will go a long way. There are many apps and crash courses you can take online for this purpose.
If you want to dive deeper into the language, consider taking language courses at a school. These days, there are plenty of online and offline courses you can take.
And if you prefer a more customized learning experience or want to rapidly improve your speaking skills, consider getting a tutor. You can get a tutor either online or in-person. iTalki is a good place to find an online tutor.
Chinese cities have convenient public transport systems. Each city has its own transport card, which can be used for taking buses, subways, and shared bicycles. In most big cities, you can just swipe an app – no need to carry a physical card around!
Public transport is also very affordable. For example, bus rides in Beijing cost as little as 1 RMB and subway rides are 10 RMB max. Purchasing a monthly pass can save you even more money.
The bus system can be intimidating if you don’t read Chinese, so we recommend sticking to the subway. All subway stops have English language names and maps.
Bike sharing is also a common method of travel. Download the relevant app (Hello Bike and/or Qingju Bike), scan the barcode, and start your cycling adventure!
For taxis, you can hail one on the street or use Didi – the Chinese equivalent of Uber. Rates start from 5RMB to 13RMB in larger cities. In case you lose anything, keep the receipt as it has the taxi number printed on top.
If you are traveling long-distance in China, taking a plane is the fastest option. It’s usually cheaper to book a domestic flight on a Chinese travel site. Check out Travel China Cheaper’s guide to learn how to do this. Note that you’ll still need your passport and visa to fly domestically.
If you have a smaller budget or want to take the scenic route, you can travel around China by train. There are two main types of trains: high-speed rail and ordinary trains. Learn about your options at China Highlights. You can book your tickets directly on Alipay or Wechat.
If you’re in a big city, you will have plenty of opportunities to meet fellow expats. Start by seeing what events Internations hosts near you.
And if you want to meet locals, take advantage of any social events your company hosts. It can be hard to make friends with locals, so your best bet is to befriend your Chinese coworkers.
China’s big cities have no lack of clubs and bars. However, if you want to have fun like a local, sing your heart out at KTV (karaoke), pick up mahjong, and play ping pong or badminton.
Single and ready to mingle? Tinder is quite popular in big cities in China and there are variety of local dating apps you can try as well:
If you need medical help, it’s best to go to an international hospital, an international clinic, or a VIP ward at a public hospital. All of these offer higher-quality care and shorter wait times than typical public healthcare facilities.
They’ll also have multilingual staff, so you don’t have to worry about a language barrier on top of whatever health condition you need help with.
Private healthcare is not cheap. For example, a visit to a general practitioner or a family doctor can cost $1,200-1,500 RMB.
So it’s important that you enroll in private insurance in addition to the public insurance you’re automatically enrolled in as an employee of a Chinese company. The average cost of private insurance for a foreign resident in China is around $4,000 per year.
As the insurance industry is very complex, your best bet is to talk to a broker. Brokers won’t cost you any money, and because they don’t work for any single company, they can be more objective about your options.
To be safe, you may also want to sign up for some travel insurance to cover you during your initial days in China. Travel insurance covers you until you become a legal resident of a country, and by then, you will hopefully have had enough time to figure out which insurance plan is best for you.
For emergency medical assistance, dial 120.
If you need help from your country’s government, find the nearest embassy or consulate.
In China, embassies are located in Beijing while consulates can be found in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and some other big cities. If you live in Shenzhen, your nearest consulates will be in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
Check out China’s top graduate employers! Good luck or “jia you” (add oil) as they say in Chinese