中國失業青年對新推出的「K簽證」去吸引外國專業人才的計劃不滿 (2/2)

Recently Google News on-line picked up the following:

China’s jobless youth aren’t happy with a plan to attract foreign professionals with a new ‘K-visa’ (2/2)

CNN - By Simone McCarthy;  CNN’s Joyce Jiang in Beijing contributed to this report

Oct 2, 2025

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Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily on Tuesday alluded to that point in an editorial that aimed to tamp down on the widespread backlash to the initiative.

“Amidst a backdrop of some countries tightening borders and sidelining international talent, China has astutely seized this important opportunity and promptly enacted policies that will undoubtedly have a profound impact on our future development,” the editorial said.

“However, some people have misinterpreted and misunderstood the policy, spreading bizarre theories that mislead the public and create unnecessary anxiety.”

China’s leaders have long aimed to recruit high-level talent to their research institutions as they vie to establish the country as a tech and science powerhouse – a goal that’s become even more critical as China is under pressure to innovate in the face of American export controls on high-tech.

China has an existing R-visa category for “foreigner of high talent or specialists urgently needed by the State.”

When asked about the changes to the US H1-B program last month, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the US policy, saying instead that China “welcomes talents from various sectors and fields across the world to come and find their footing in China for the progress of humanity and career success.”

But the K-visa backlash highlights how these ambitions are butting up against economic insecurities and nationalist views within a country that has fewer than 1 million foreign residents.

 

‘The anxiety young people face’

The common thread underlying most discussion has been a concern that welcoming overseas talent will disadvantage those from China who are already struggling – a debate not unlike the one driving changes to the H1-B in the United States.

Some discussion on Chinese social media in recent days has also reflected a bias against potential Indian applicants to the K-visa. Indian professionals hold the largest share of H1-B visas in the US.

The People’s Daily editorial said that the K-visa “should not be equated with immigration,” but rather was designed to “facilitate the work and life of young foreign talent in China.”

China’s youth unemployment rate hit 18.9% in August, the highest since December 2023, when the country began releasing the figure following a pause as it changed its methodology. About half of China’s graduates across all levels of higher education between 2012 and 2022 hold STEM degrees, according to official data cited by Chinese researchers – amounting to a talent pool of some 24 million people.

Hu Xijin, a Chinese pundit and former editor-in-chief of the state-run tabloid Global Times on Wednesday called the K-visa a test of China’s “execution capabilities” in terms of selecting recipients and said it must come alongside job creation in China.

“The real issue at the heart of the K-visa controversy is that it reflects the tension in the domestic job market and the anxiety young people face in finding employment,” Hu wrote on his official Weibo account.

“Improving the domestic employment rate, especially in terms of high-quality jobs, is crucial for governance at this moment.”

Translation

中國失業青年對新推出的「K簽證」吸引外國專業人才的計劃不滿 (2/2)

（繼續）

中共喉舌《人民日報》週二發表社論，暗示了這一觀點，旨在平息外界對該倡議的普遍反對。

社論指出：“在一些國家收緊邊境、排擠國際人才的背景下，中國敏銳地抓住了這一重要機遇，迅速出台了一系列無疑將對我國未來發展產生深遠影響的政策。”

“然而，一些人對這項政策進行了曲解和誤解，散佈了一些荒誕的理論，誤導公眾，製造了不必要的焦慮。”

中國領導人長期以來致力於招募高水準人才加入其科研機構，力爭將中國打造為科技強國。面對美國對高科技出口的管制，中國面臨創新的壓力，這個目標變得更加重要。

中國目前有一個R簽證類別，專門針對「國家急需緊缺的外國人才或專門人才」。

上個月，當被問及美國H1-B簽證計劃的變化時，中國外交部發言人拒絕就美國政策發表評論，而是表示「中國歡迎世界各國各行各業的優秀人才來華發展，為人類進步和職業成功貢獻力量」。

但K簽證面對強烈反對凸顯了這些雄心壯志正與一個只有不足100萬外國居民的國家的經濟不安全感和民族主義觀點相衝突。

 

“年輕人面臨的焦慮”

大多數討論的共同點在於，人們擔心歡迎海外人才會給那些本已舉步維艱的中國人才帶來不利影響 - 這一爭論與推動美國H1-B簽證改革的爭論頗為相似。

最近幾天，中國社群媒體上的一些討論也反映出對印度K簽證潛在申請人的偏見。印度專業人士持佔美國H1-B簽證的最大份額。

《人民日報》的社論稱，K簽證“不應等同於移民”，而是為了“便利外國青年人才在中國的工作和生活”。

中國8月青年失業率達18.9%，為2023年12月以來的最高水準。此前，中國因調整統計方法而暫停公佈該數據，並於同年12月開始公佈。根據中國研究人員引用的官方數據，2012年至2022年期間，中國各級高等教育畢業生中約有一半擁有STEM學位，相當於一個有約2,400萬人的人才庫。

中國評論員、前官方報紙《環球時報》主編胡錫進週三稱，K簽證是對中國在甄選簽證發放者方面的“執行力”的一次考驗，並表示K簽證必須與中國創造就業機會同步推進。

胡錫進在其官方微博上寫道：“K簽證爭議的核心問題在於，它反映了國內就業市場的緊張局勢以及年輕人在求職過程中面臨的焦慮。”

“提高國內就業率，尤其是高品質就業，對當前的治理至關重要。”

So, a new visa category, known as the “K-visa,” launched by the Chinese government to attract young science and technology professionals is causing fervent backlash in China where well-educated young people are already struggling to find work. This decision is widely seen as a part of Beijing’s bid to gain an edge in its technology rivalry with the US as Donald Trump pushes to slash federal funding for research and tightens restrictions on international students and workers. I am interested in knowing how the CCP would allay the worries of the unemployed young people.