China steps up efforts to import tech workers

Vaishnavi Srinivasagopalan, a skilled Indian information technology professional who has worked in India and the U.S., has been looking for work in China. Beijing’s new K-visa program targeting science and technology workers could turn that dream into a reality.

- By Cuan Ho-Him

CHENG XIN Getty Images

CHINA IS trying to attract tech workers as the U.S. turns them away. Above, JD Technology in Beijing.

The K-visa rolled out by Beijing last month is part of China’s widening effort to catch up with the U.S. in the race for global talent and cutting-edge technology. It coincides with uncertainties over the U.S.’ HB program under tightened immigration policies implemented by President Trump.

The “K-visa for China [is] an equivalent to the H-1B for the U.S.,” said Srinivasagopalan, who is intrigued by China’s working environment and culture after her father worked at a Chinese university a few years back. “It is a good option for people like me to work abroad.”

The K-visa supplements China’s visa options including the R-visa for foreign professionals, but with loosened requirements, such as that applicants have a job offer before applying.

Stricter U.S. policies toward foreign students and scholars under Trump, including the raising of fees for the H-1B visa for foreign skilled workers to $100,000 for new applicants, are leading some non-American professionals and students to consider going elsewhere.

“Students studying in the U.S. hoped for an [H-1B] visa, but currently this is an issue,” said Bikash Kali Das, an Indian master’s student of international relations at Sichuan University in China.

A skills gap and brain drain

China is striking while the iron is hot.

The ruling Communist Party has made global leadership in advanced technologies a priority, paying massive government subsidies to support research and development of areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics.