By Gu Xin

Survey for 2016 Most Attractive Chinese Cities for Expats begins

By Gu Xin

The survey for 2016 Most Attractive Chinese Cities for Expats officially kicked off.

International Talent magazine, an authoritative publication on attracting foreign talents and international professional cooperation, and China Research Association for International Personnel Exchange and Development, initiated the survey aimed at discovering the most attractive Chinese cities in the eyes of foreign talents.

This is the sixth year of the annual survey, which began in 2010. As the only list in China solely participated by foreign talents, the annual survey has become an important window for foreign talents to learn more about China.

Results from last year’s survey showed that Shanghai topped the list for the fourth time in a role. Hangzhou of Zhejiang province made it to top three for the first time.

In May, 2015, China’s financial hub introduced 20 new policies on permanent residence, household registration and equity in order to accelerate the establishment of a globally influential city of science and technological innovation.

The survey also showed gradually increasing “talent dividend”in Shanghai. When asked which Chinese figure represented China the most, participant voted most (11.7%) for President Xi Jinping. Chairman Mao Zedong ranked second at 4.2%. China’s kung fu megastar Jackie Chan came in third at 3.7%.

The idea of “mass entrepreneurship and innovation” as raised by Premier Li Keqiang in the government work report during the Two Sessions in 2015 also resonated with foreign talents. 41.9% of foreign talents in China is considering or is already embarking on starting their own businesses, of which 23.6% of foreign experts have already done so in China.

The sixth survey is more participatory and targeted. Two lists will be produced, namely ten most attractive cities and ten most attractive Western cities.

Nobel prize laureate, foreign experts who are “Friendship Award” winners as awarded by the Chinese government,“Foreign Thousand Talents” experts and foreign experts from International City Management Association are invited to participate. They will evaluate various Chinese cities in attracting and serving foreign talents, as well as letting their full potential come into play. Four criteria will be judged, namely environments of policy, administration, work and livelihood.

Data for the survey will be collected in the form of votes. Anonymous online votes by foreign talents, signed votes from foreign talents residing in China and signed votes from renowned experts will be analyzed, weighed to give rise to three lists.

Under the theme of “urban openness and talent recruitment”, the survey aims to search for the inclination of foreign entrepreneurs in China and emphasize the establishment of an environment more suitable to recruit more foreign talents so as to attract more high-level overseas talents to innovate and work in China.

The survey ends on Dec 31. The results will be released in April, 2017 after approval from State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs of China and Cyberspace Administration of China.