THE NEW YORK TIMES: As Trump tries to limit foreign workers, China woos them

Just as President Donald Trump is making it much more expensive for American companies to bring in skilled foreign workers, China is rolling out a plan to welcome them.

On October 1, China will launch a new type of visa designed to make it easier for graduates of top universities in science, technology, engineering or mathematics to travel to China to study or do business.

The new visa category is part of China’s broader campaign to attract top scientific talent as it vies with the United States for technological and geopolitical dominance. China’s visa was announced a few weeks before Trump moved to impose a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas for skilled workers.

As the Trump administration has attacked universities, slashed federal research funding and questioned scientific authority, China has invested vast sums into research and development. It has also lured some top scientists in the United States to positions in China.

It is far from clear how much the new K visa, as China’s visa is called, will affect the race for talent. Beijing has yet to release details about the program, including who will be eligible or whether they will be allowed to take up formal employment.

And while foreigners with special knowledge have long been eligible for other types of visas to enter China, albeit with more paperwork, it is difficult for foreigners to immigrate to China permanently.

But the gesture alone may help position China as becoming more open to the world, while the United States appears to be closing itself off.

“Silicon Valley has become more and more into the ‘America first’ culture,” said George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group, a consulting firm based in Washington, who focuses on technology policy.

For tech workers from other countries who worry they are no longer welcome in the United States, he said, “when they see the news about K visas, they might think: I will have another option at least.”

Historically, Chinese tech companies and universities have recruited mostly domestic talent. That is in part because China has focused heavily on STEM education in recent years, which, combined with its large population, now helps it produce the most STEM graduates in the world.

But China still lags behind the United States in some key fields, such as semiconductors and biotechnology, and it has been eager to draw in foreign talent to help it catch up.

Yet foreigners traveling to China for work or business face, as in the United States, a cumbersome visa application process, including requirements for a sponsoring company and sometimes certification by the Chinese government as a “high-level talent.”

The Chinese government has tried to smooth the process in recent years. For scientists, it has offered generous incentive packages and promised to cut red tape. The new K visa will offer longer stays, multiple entries and will not require an invitation letter from a company.

The new visa could be most helpful to startups that don’t have the resources to apply for traditional employment visas, or foreign students in China seeking work, said Angus Chen, a Shenzhen-based headhunter for tech companies.

“Staying in China afterward to look for jobs will become much easier,” he said.

Big tech companies, such as Alibaba or Huawei, may also be better able to bring in foreign consultants on short notice.

Chen at the Asia Group (no relation to Angus Chen) said the visa could allow people who were interested in the Chinese tech world to test the waters.

“There are a lot of people who are tempted to come to China, but they’re also not so sure,” he said. “I think the interest will only grow stronger, as those Chinese tech companies become more powerful and more capital-rich.”

China still faces many obstacles in drawing large pools of foreign talent. (Those scientists who have relocated to China from overseas have often been people who were born in China, then moved abroad.) There are language barriers and political and cultural differences, not to mention very limited pathways to permanent residency.

“China has long been solicitous of foreign expertise, but selectively, and on its own terms,” Dan Wang, a technology analyst and research fellow at Stanford University, wrote in an email. “Generally, China only wants economically productive foreigners; the state makes it clear that foreign nationals past the age of 60 will have a hard time maintaining residence in China.”

And the K visa is unlikely to replace the H-1B. The vast majority of H-1B visa holders in the United States are Indian, but relations between China and India are fraught. On Chinese social media, when Global Times, a nationalist tabloid, posted that many Indian news outlets were reporting on the new Chinese visa, many Chinese users responded with racist comments, saying they did not welcome Indians.

Some Indian analysts also said that an easier visa process would do little to convince Indians to replace the United States with China.

“They’re not going to the U.S. because they got a visa. They’re going because it’s a whole lifestyle. They want to work there, they want to live there, they want to become American citizens,” said Santosh Pai, a lawyer in New Delhi who advises Chinese and Indian companies.

And while Chinese state media has advertised the K visa as proof of China’s openness, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has repeatedly emphasized the need for self-reliance, to shield against geopolitical uncertainties and hostile foreign powers.

“Don’t be fooled by the K visa,” said Chen, of the Asia Group. “Yes, the K visa is to get foreign experts. But you want to get the foreign experts to help you advance your own agenda, which is ultimately about self-reliance.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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