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Shanghai still tops for Western expats
| Published: | 18 Apr at 6 PM |
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For the fifth year in a row, the Chinese city of Shanghai has been voted the best place in the vast country for foreigners.
Results of the annual study were released by the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs during a Shenzhen-based conference on the international exchange of professions. For the fifth year running, Shanghai was awarded the number one spot in a list of 10 Chinese cities with expat communities.According to the Global Times, an expert from the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies rated the city highly for its good immigration environment, plethora of job opportunities and the fact that the city has been welcoming to foreigners for many years.
In 2016, the Shanghai authorities received six times the number of residency applications from expats than in the previous year, and the late 2016 introduction of 10 new entry and exit rules for Shanghai meant top expatriate professionals could get permanent residency allowing them to have the same rights as Chinese citizens in schooling, housing purchase and investment.
Work permits are becoming easier to obtain, using a simplified process intended to encourage the brightest and best to settle in China’s major cities. Whilst Shanghai topped the list of the most foreigner-friendly cities, other expat favourites did well. Beijing took second place, with Hangzhou in East China’s Zhejiang province coming in at third place. The remaining seven places were awarded to Quingdao, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Changchun, all of which have expat communities happy to be settled in this fascinating, ancient country.
One of the reasons why foreigners gravitate towards China’s massive conurbations is the many conveniences offered by big cities as against the more picturesque, smaller cities and large towns. Importantly, diverse cultures including the Western ways are more easily assimilated and tolerated, and most foreigners moving to China are looking for good standards of environmental protection as well as economic development leading to an interesting choice of jobs. More than 24,000 expats took part in the survey, including a number of Nobel Prize winners.
Source: Global Times
Results of the annual study were released by the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs during a Shenzhen-based conference on the international exchange of professions. For the fifth year running, Shanghai was awarded the number one spot in a list of 10 Chinese cities with expat communities.According to the Global Times, an expert from the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies rated the city highly for its good immigration environment, plethora of job opportunities and the fact that the city has been welcoming to foreigners for many years.
In 2016, the Shanghai authorities received six times the number of residency applications from expats than in the previous year, and the late 2016 introduction of 10 new entry and exit rules for Shanghai meant top expatriate professionals could get permanent residency allowing them to have the same rights as Chinese citizens in schooling, housing purchase and investment.
Work permits are becoming easier to obtain, using a simplified process intended to encourage the brightest and best to settle in China’s major cities. Whilst Shanghai topped the list of the most foreigner-friendly cities, other expat favourites did well. Beijing took second place, with Hangzhou in East China’s Zhejiang province coming in at third place. The remaining seven places were awarded to Quingdao, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Changchun, all of which have expat communities happy to be settled in this fascinating, ancient country.
One of the reasons why foreigners gravitate towards China’s massive conurbations is the many conveniences offered by big cities as against the more picturesque, smaller cities and large towns. Importantly, diverse cultures including the Western ways are more easily assimilated and tolerated, and most foreigners moving to China are looking for good standards of environmental protection as well as economic development leading to an interesting choice of jobs. More than 24,000 expats took part in the survey, including a number of Nobel Prize winners.
Source: Global Times
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