Chinese goverment survey reveals most expats are illiterate males

Published:  3 Nov at 6 PM
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The results of a survey by China’s State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs may have come as a shock to the ministry, but expat professionals seem to be regarding it as a big joke.

The study was undertaken in order to determine how to attract the brightest and best overseas talent to China’s buzzing economy. The results, however, seemed to indicate that most expats are male, and almost all are unable to utter ever a short, simple sentence in basic Chinese.

Expats who took part in the survey had a different tale to tell, with 70 per cent enjoying every minute in the admittedly unique country. As few as 3.3 per cent couldn’t cope with the culture and were determined to leave as soon as their contracts ended, although a further 17 per cent said they would stay if they could find higher-paying, more challenging jobs.

Unsurprisingly, higher pay and less bureaucracy in the visa department were the most-requested changes. However, when challenged about their inability to master the Chinese language, most said that their Chinese counterparts had a high standard of English, thus saving expats from the nightmare of learning Mandarin Chinese.

The survey also revealed that China’s expat population is totally international in its makeup, with 34 per cent hailing from North America, 28 per cent from Europe and 21 per cent from other Asian nations. The final 17 per cent represented most of the rest of the world, according to the results.
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