HONG KONG — Vaishnavi Srinivasagopalan, an experienced Indian IT professional who has worked in both India and the US, is looking for a job in China. Beijing's new K-visa program, targeting science and technology workers, could make this dream a reality.
The K visa, introduced by Beijing last month, is part of China's expanding efforts to catch up with the US in the race for global talent and advanced technologies. This coincides with uncertainty over the US H-1B program amid President Donald Trump's tightening immigration policies.
“(The) K visa for China (is) the equivalent of the H-1B for the US,” said Srinivasagopalan, who is intrigued by China’s work environment and culture after her father worked at a Chinese university several years ago. “For people like me, this is a good option to work abroad.”
The K visa complements China's existing visa schemes, including the R visa for foreign professionals, but with relaxed requirements, such as not requiring the applicant to have a job offer before applying.
Stricter US policy regarding foreign students and scientists under Trump, including increase in duties for H-1B visas for foreign skilled workers up to $100,000 for new applicants, are prompting some non-U.S. professionals and students to consider traveling elsewhere.
“Students studying in the US were hoping for a (H-1B) visa, but this is currently a problem,” said Bikash Kali Das, an Indian master's student in international relations at Sichuan University in China.
China strikes while the iron is hot.
The ruling Communist Party has made global leadership in cutting-edge technology a top priority, paying out huge government subsidies to support research and development in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics.
“Beijing sees tightening immigration policies in the U.S. as an opportunity to position itself globally by welcoming foreign talent and investment more broadly,” said Barbara Kelemen, deputy director and head of Asia at security company Dragonfly.
Unemployment among Chinese graduates remains high and competition for jobs in science and technology fields is intense. However, there is a skills gap that China's leaders are keen to fill. For decades, China has been losing top talent to developed countries as many of them stayed and worked in the US and Europe after graduating there.
The brain drain has not completely stopped.
Many Chinese parents still consider Western education to be advanced and are eager to send their children abroad, says Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore.
However, in recent years, an increasing number of professionals, including artificial intelligence experts, scientists and engineers, have moved to China from the United States, including Chinese Americans. Fei Su, a chip architect at Intel, and Ming Zhou, a senior engineer at US software company Altair, were among those who took teaching jobs in China this year.
Many skilled workers in India and Southeast Asia have already expressed interest in the K visa, said Edward Hu, director of Shanghai immigration at consultancy Newland Chase.
With the unemployment rate among Chinese aged 16-24, excluding students, at nearly 18%, the campaign to attract more foreign talent is questionable.
“The current job market is already highly competitive,” said Zhou Xinying, a 24-year-old graduate student in behavioral sciences at Zhejiang University in eastern China.
While foreign professionals can help “bring in new technologies” and different international perspectives, Zhou said, “some younger Chinese job seekers may feel pressured by the introduction of the K-visa policy.”
Kyle Huang, a 26-year-old software engineer from the southern city of Guangzhou, said his colleagues in the science and technology fields fear the new visa scheme “could jeopardize local job opportunities.”
A recent commentary published by the state-backed news outlet Shanghai Observer downplayed such concerns, saying bringing in such foreign talent would benefit the economy. As China advances in areas such as artificial intelligence and advanced semiconductors, there is a “gap and mismatch” between qualified job applicants and demand for skilled labor, the report said.
“The more challenging the global environment, the more China will open its arms,” the report says.
“Beijing will need to emphasize that select foreign talent can create, not take away, local jobs,” said Michael Feller, chief strategist at consultancy Geo Political Strategy. “But even Washington has shown that this is a politically difficult argument to make, despite decades of evidence.”
Recruitment and immigration experts say foreign workers face various obstacles in China. One of them is the language barrier. The ruling Communist Party's Internet censorship, known as the “Great Firewall,” is another drawback.
In a country of about 1.4 billion people, there were only about 711,000 foreign workers living in China as of 2023.
The US continues to lead in research and has the advantage of widespread use of the English language. For many, there is still a relatively clearer path to residency, says David Stepat, Singapore director at consultancy Dezan Shira. & Partners.
Nikhil Swaminathan, an Indian H1-B visa holder working for a US non-profit after completing graduate school there, is interested in the Chinese K visa but is skeptical. “I would consider it. China is a great place to work in technology, if not for the difficult relationship between India and China,” he said.
Given the choice, many job seekers will continue to seek employment with leading global companies outside of China.
“The U.S. is likely at greater risk of losing potential H-1B applicants to other Western economies, including Britain and the European Union, than to China,” said Feller of Geo Political Strategy.
“The US may be sabotaging itself, but it's doing it in a much more competitive position in terms of attracting talent,” Feller said. “China will need to do much more than just offer easy visa procedures to attract the best.”
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AP writer Fu Ting in Washington and researchers Yu Bing and Shihuan Chen in Beijing contributed.
