Shanghai chosen as expats' favorite city fifth time in a row

Mostly happy, and willing to stay

Roughly 70 percent of expats working in China seemed content with their pay, in which 58.5 percent of respondents for this year's survey said they earn what they expected to earn. 13.1 percent said they made higher than their expected pay, a 3.2 percent hike compared to only 9.9 percent last year. On the contrary, 18.1 percent of expats in China felt they were underpaid.

Is your salary up to your expectations?

Many expats expressed willingness to stay in China for the long run. About 36.1% said they hoped to live in China for the long-term, in which 54.7 percent planned to stay one to five years. Those who lived in China for less than one year only accounted for 5.6 percent.

Looking at age distributions, older expats were more willing to stay in China for the long run compared to younger generations, who may wish to travel to different countries to gain more life and work experiences.

How long do you plan to work and live in China?

There was a geographical difference as well. Expats from Southeast Asian countries expressed the strongest willingness to stay in China, where 55.9 percent wanted to live and work in China for the long run. Russian expats only wanted short stays in China, and 29.4 percent of them left within just one year.

The survey, now into its seventh year, is the only one that uses foreign experts as participants. The expert panel this year included Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate James Fraser Stoddart, Chinese Friendship Award recipient Peter Grunberg, as well as foreign experts selected into the National "1,000 Talent Plan for High-level Foreign Experts". The panel offered their sincere advice and suggestions to the survey through signed votes.
The survey is co-conducted by China Society for Research on International Professional Personnel Exchange and Development as well as International Talents magazine. Data analysis of the survey was provided by Dataway.