Shanghai Chosen as Expats' Favorite City Fifth Time in a Row

By Gu Xin Li Yiwen

我的中國故事MY CHINA STORY

Shanghai Chosen as Expats' Favorite City Fifth Time in a Row

By Gu Xin Li Yiwen

The results are in for the Amazing China 2016 election, an annual survey where foreign experts in China vote for their favorite Chinese city.

Shanghai, China's fi nancial hub, was selected as expats' favorite city to work and live in for the fi fth year in a row.

Beijing, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Changhun followed on the list.

The election also looked at attractive Western cities in China, in which according to the score ranking , the 12 cities were sort as follows: Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Xi'an, Lhasa, Guiyang, Lanzhou, Nanning, Yinchuan, Xining, Urumqi and Hohhot.

The Amazing China 2016 election was conducted from November 2016 to January 2017. The results were analyzed from 30 votes from top expert panel, 1,701 signed votes from foreign experts in China and 22,780 votes from Internet users.

When asked about the most attractive factor of working in China, the country's abundant employment opportunities topped the list at 52.7 percent. China's economic prospects accounted for 45.4 percent, and openness and degree of internationalization (39.1 percent) was selected as the third most attractive factor.

More than half (55.3 percent) of respondents said they took environmental protection and pollution into account when choosing a city in China to live and work in. Policies and administrations were also considered, and particular attention was paid to convenient border entry and exit (42.8 percent) as well as easier application for residence permits (41.4 percent). 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.

The election, 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 “1000 Talent Plan for High-level Foreign Experts”. The panel offered their sincere advice and suggestions to the survey through signed votes.

The election is co-conducted by China Society for Research on International Professional Personnel Exchange and Development as well as International Talent magazine. Data analysis was provided by Dataway.