China to Relax Employment Laws for International Students
The Ministry of Education has announced that international students will soon be able to take up part-time work to supplement their studies in China, according to China Daily. This latest relaxation of labor laws is one of a number of policies in recent years that have looked to open up China’s jobs to foreign talent. Other recent shifts include the introduction in 2017 of a program by the central government in which international students with postgraduate degrees or those who had attended distinguished universities abroad could work permits. Previously, you needed to have a minimum of two years’ work experience outside China before applying for a work visa.
This move towards allowing part-time work will enable international students in Beijing and Shanghai to take jobs or internships off-campus, as long as they have permission from the university and the entry and exit administrative authorities.
While we aren’t entirely sure what kind of hoops students will need to jump through in order to get the permissions mentioned, it looks to be a move in the right direction, especially for university students looking for real-world work experience within China so as to further develop their language and professional skills.
Wang Huiyao, director of the Center for China and Globalization, explained to China Daily that it makes sense for the country to expand such innovative policies given as they serve to reinvigorate China’s workforce development. He added that foreign employees could also give domestic enterprises an advantage as they expand overseas.
Despite the questions that surround how exactly these visas will be acquired, it's looking like good news for those international high school students who would rather stay in China instead of going abroad for their university years, as they will ultimately want to get a taste of China’s job market to help decide whether or not it’s worth sticking around.
This article comes courtesy of our sister magazine beijingkids.
Photo: China Daily
