China’s “K-type visa” has attracted global attention. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it is “established to promote exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign young scientific and technological talents”. What impacts will this policy bring?
Viewpoint 1:
The K-type visa only allows you to come to China, but it does not mean you can work in China; what governs whether you can work is the “Foreigner Work Permit”. There is a habitual way of thinking here. Our country previously issued Z-type visas to talents because the Z-type visa requirements are more complex—
- You must be a talent (especially one that is scarce domestically)
- You must have enterprise sponsorship.
The Z-type visa is quite complex, so when a foreign engineer obtains a Z-type visa, obtaining a “Foreigner Work Permit” afterwards is just a matter of procedure. However, the logic of the K-type visa is somewhat different. Because the K-type visa does not require enterprise employment sponsorship, an Indian who obtains a K-type visa cannot apply for the “Foreigner Work Permit” on their own—because this document requires proof of employment from an enterprise. So, for this Indian to stay in China relying on the K-type visa, there are three methods—
First, work illegally.
Second, find an enterprise willing to hire them.
Third, register their own enterprise in mainland China and then hire themselves.
Method one is illegal immigration. Method three is procedurally unfeasible because enterprises that want to hire foreign workers must first pay taxes for one year….. Method two almost returns to the logic of the Z-type visa, meaning if you want to work in China, you must find an enterprise willing to hire you.
Then, answering some questions everyone is concerned about:
Is the “Foreigner Work Permit” easy to obtain?
The difficulty is quite high, or rather, the Z-type visa is quite difficult to obtain (generally speaking, if a foreigner can obtain a Z-type visa, then obtaining the work permit is not difficult). The “Foreigner Work Permit” often requires the foreigner to have a master’s degree or above from a prestigious university, an average salary 4-6 times that of their local area, and mastery of technologies that are scarce in China. If it is a general educational background and engaged in low-skilled work, China often refuses.
In past data, how many people have obtained the “Foreigner Work Permit”?
Approximately 300,000 to 400,000 per year. Before the pandemic, in 2018, it reached a peak of 330,000. After the pandemic, it dropped below 300,000, and in 2023, it was 270,000. This number does not refer to 300,000 people entering in one year, but rather how many foreigners in China hold this permit and are working each year.
Is it often that those who obtain the “Foreigner Work Permit” are overseas Chinese?
Indeed. There is no official data, so we can only rely on simulations from other external agencies. Assuming 300,000 people per year, approximately 200,000 are Chinese.
Are visas and work permits managed by the same department?
Uh, really not. Visas are managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Work permits are managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Viewpoint 2:
I am in the US, the male boss of the research group is Indian, so there are many Indian guys. How to put it? Some don’t shower for three days. Some pour hydrofluoric acid into glass beakers, don’t label them, and leave them in the fume hood without handling. Some use instruments without registering, and after use, throw them around everywhere. Some are uneducated but very confident. The above-mentioned are all different Indian guys, from Ivy League schools, oh. As for the Indian boss, it is rumored that during his PhD period, when visiting a laboratory, he saw a bright red emergency button with “DO NOT TOUCH” written on it, and he couldn’t resist pressing it, becoming famous far and wide.
Viewpoint 3:
This is a visa, not nationality. China issued a total of 5.1 million visas in 2024. These K-type visas just have different conditions and can work in special fields, mainly focused on science and engineering. To put it bluntly, it’s about competing for talent. When the Soviet Union collapsed, we did this, but it didn’t become a policy. Moreover, the Soviet Union collapse led to the loss of 20 million elites, most of whom were taken by Europe and the US. If the US collapses and also loses 20 million elites, why shouldn’t we take them? 20 million people scattered into 1.4 billion people is equivalent to 1 in 70 people. Assimilation would be easy, and in a few years they would become Chinese. At that time, our national power could surge. This is a very cost-effective deal. You might think they are coming to snatch Chinese people’s job opportunities, but that’s wrong. The work they can do, if Chinese people can also do it, domestic units don’t need to hire foreigners. If Chinese people can’t do it, why not take talent from other countries? Is there a problem with letting others do the work you can’t do? I emphasize again: this is a visa, not nationality. Moreover, before this policy came out, there was no wind of it, indicating it was a decision from a small meeting of the Standing Committee. Combined with recent situations in the US, I have a premonition that the US is going to be in great turmoil. Trump might use attacking Venezuela as an excuse to start an internal purge. US high-end talents will definitely seek refuge abroad. Out of humanitarian spirit, we temporarily provide them with a refuge opportunity. Whether they stay or leave in the future is a matter for the future. Perhaps they are real technical experts, and if we want to keep them to join Chinese nationality, they might not be willing. As for Indians, that’s just unnecessary excitement. There must be a list of universities, and whether any Indian universities are on the list is questionable, and the number of Indians who meet the list criteria is probably very few. I emphasize again: this is a visa, not nationality. On this issue, there are a bunch of traitors building momentum. These people are really hopeless; they haven’t realized that this is actually their escape route. Chinese people generally have high IQs and high education levels. How high is the probability that overseas Chinese graduates’ universities are on the list? I don’t need to say. As long as they are not on the anti-China blacklist, they basically won’t be denied entry. Don’t think about restoring Chinese nationality; those conditions are absolutely not something you can meet. Consider this a temporary refuge opportunity provided out of humanitarian spirit, cherish it, because the US is going to be in great turmoil. Don’t follow the trend and stir up trouble. If the government really cancels this visa, you are the ones who will suffer the most, it could really cost you your lives.
Viewpoint 4:
Don’t give me that about the K visa allowing only a short stay in China. I just ask three questions: When can undergraduate graduates be called “young scientific and technological talents”? How many undergraduate graduates can produce major scientific achievements published in high-level domestic and international journals or conferences as first author or co-first author? How many have applied for patents and brought actual social and economic value? How many have successfully started tech companies? What proportion of algorithm engineers at Deepseek, Alibaba, Tencent are undergraduate graduates? How many at Google, Twitter, Facebook are undergraduate graduates? You ask Dong Mingzhu’s company what positions undergraduates are hired for? Are these positions all “young scientific and technological talents”? It takes effect tomorrow, where is the list of “high-level domestic and foreign universities or research institutes”? Since when can Chinese policies be defined so blatantly? If illegal immigrants sneak in, who pays for the deportation costs? Who pays for the overtime wages of immigration and public security grassroots management personnel? If illegal immigrants commit crimes in China (even those with legal visas commit crimes frequently), who compensates the victims? Who pays for environmental management costs?
Viewpoint 5:
This policy has a lot of impact on me because I am a STEM PhD preparing to return to work. The K visa will inevitably increase my domestic employment competition pressure. But if the entry standards can be strictly enforced, and high-quality young STEM talents are genuinely introduced, it would be a great benefit for the country and the people—during the critical period of industrial upgrading, science and engineering talents are never too many. At a time when the US H1B is acting perversely and driving away international talents, I hope these foreign young talents—regardless of origin from India, Iran, Central Asia, or Eastern Europe—can apply for this visa to come to China, see our research facilities, teams, and treatment, and thus develop plans to settle in China. If out of 100 visas issued, 50 are willing to come to China, 10 develop the idea to stay, and 1 actually stays, then our country profits. In the past, the Qin State absorbed key talents from Zhao State due to the Recruitment Decree, thus leaping to the top of the Warring States. The K visa is our current Recruitment Decree, announcing to the world that we respect and cherish talents. We must complete the absorption before Trump steps down, as this will be the future destiny of our country.
Viewpoint 6:
China will not see the kind of large-scale illegal immigrants from India, Africa, and the Middle East as in the West, unless there is a change of regime. I faintly feel that the government has other reasons considering international influence that are not convenient to state clearly: just to compete for discourse power internationally, contrasting with US policies, so the policy must be rushed out during this period, otherwise it won’t catch the hot topic. But in the end, the actual approval or not, the decision power is with us. The standards need to be vague, with discretionary power, otherwise what if India counterfeits each standard one by one? Bring them in to attract a wave of consumption, and incidentally pick up a few leaks. With this visa, you come to China to find a job yourself; if you can’t find one, you have to leave. But work visas are not that easy to obtain; those who can get them must have been screened. This policy has been piloted in Shenzhen and Suzhou for some time, and I haven’t heard of large-scale illegal immigration issues in these two places. In summary, cautious optimism, not blindly supporting, nor blindly opposing.
Viewpoint 7:
I hold a different opinion from you. This is a move, on the surface introducing small talents, but with hidden mysteries. It’s about letting current foreign small talents place bets. If China becomes stronger in the next five years, the foreigners who come first will be the first to reap benefits and become pioneer talents. First come, first served. Those who come after five years may not be small talents anymore, but could be big talents from currently developed European and American countries. (These big talents of course look down on it now.) This bet is about the “vision” of current foreign talents. Bet on the future of the East or the West. If you win the bet, you score double points. This can be said to be a gain BUFF with multiple benefits.
Viewpoint 8:
I always feel that whether it’s pinkos (pro-China) or colonials (pro-Western), they are overconfident. There is also a possibility that even if opened, no one is willing to come….. Or if they come, they can’t endure it. Of course, report what should be reported, and it’s best to stop it, because whether many people come or no one comes, it doesn’t look good. Finally, if they come, it’s best to cure the problem of worshiping foreign things and fawning on foreigners. Don’t be cowardly; if you are cowardly, you will be ridden over.
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