\u201cWhile [US President Donald] Trump is taxing the import of talent with the new $100,000 fee for an H-1B visa for skilled workers, China is going the other way,\u201d Allan von Mehren, chief analyst and China economist at Danske Bank Markets, wrote in a note.<\/p>\n
George Chen, partner at the Asia Group, said the scheme served Xi\u2019s goal of strengthening China\u2019s self-reliance in tech and innovation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo reach that goal, China now realises it has to open wider and\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009to make the whole process much easier and more attractive,\u201d he said. \u201cHence the K-visa programme.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the scheme has drawn a nationalist and at times even xenophobic backlash in China, where finding even science and tech work is becoming harder for new graduates<\/a>.\u00a0China\u2019s youth unemployment rate rose to nearly 19 per cent in August, a two-year high.<\/p>\n Some online commenters asked why a country that produces millions of Stem graduates would need a foreign talent scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf we have the resources, why don\u2019t we nurture our own talent?\u201d one asked.<\/p>\n Others said that granting visas to Indian students \u2014 who accounted for about 70 per cent of H-1B recipients<\/a> \u2014 would be a betrayal of Chinese soldiers who died in border clashes with their southern neighbour five years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery inch of this land was reclaimed from invaders with the blood and sacrifice of our ancestors,\u201d said one comment on China\u2019s social media platform, Xiaohongshu. \u201cChina must remain a China for Chinese people.\u201d<\/p>\n The response appeared to force the government to the back foot, with state media publishing articles this week defending the scheme.<\/p>\n \u201cSome have misinterpreted the policy, making outlandish claims that mislead the public and cause unnecessary anxiety,\u201d the People\u2019s Daily said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough China leads the world in total human resources\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009it still lacks high-level talent,\u201d it added, naming an expected skills gap in manufacturing.<\/p>\n Most analysts believe the policy will be aimed at bringing in workers from renowned universities or research institutions, or with exceptional skills in priority areas, such as biomedicine and artificial intelligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n The scheme will probably target a \u201cmore reduced but very talented pool\u201d, said Alicia Garc\u00eda-Herrero, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Natixis.<\/p>\n Experts said India would be a natural beneficiary of the policy, with a strong pipeline of science and tech graduates.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt could be attractive for mid-career Indians with families who get full facilities in China and assured projects,\u201d said Manjeet Kripalani, executive director of Gateway House, a Mumbai-based think-tank.<\/p>\n While relations between Beijing and New Delhi have been frosty in recent years, the sides have pursued a recent rapprochement<\/a>. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Xi last month in China, his first such visit in seven years, when he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization security forum.<\/p>\n Direct flights between the countries, which have been suspended since the Covid-19 pandemic, are expected to resume this month.<\/p>\n But one executive at an Indian university who asked not to be named said they were sceptical a wave of students would be pursuing careers in China.<\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n
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