When someone says they want to move and live in China, most people will glare at them for the longest time as if they are crazy. Why would anyone leave the comfort of their home to move to a country with a hard to understand language and start almost anew. Here’s why so many people decided to jump ahead in the crazy adventure of living in China. You will find out that you aren’t starting anew. On the contrary, you bring with you a very much needed set of skills that can push you to the next level.
Easy Professional Networking When Living in China
First off, networking is a lot easier than one might think despite the difference in language. The fact is many professionals speak English here. As an expat, there’s also a big community of expats in China helping and supporting each other. Everyone goes to China with the same goal, to achieve success and growth. Building a network of professionals is very easy through WeChat and many will refer you contacts that can help you. Before you know it, you will have a big enough network to help you with anything you need. From finding an apartment in Beijing to growing your business or even finding a job, there is always someone that wants to help.
Low Cost of Living and Relocating in China
Based on where you decide to live, the cost of living may vary quite a bit. Big cities like Beijing and Shanghai will have expensive rent but compensate with everything else being very cheap. You can get a taxi for around 3 USD to anywhere in a 15 min range. Food can be either insanely cheap (1 USD dumplings anyone?) or a lot more expensive if you absolutely want that 18 people pizza delivered home. But overall, it’s easy to maintain a low cost of living. On top of that, salaries and wages are very competitive where most expats make a lot more money than in their own country.
Budget Friendly Traveling in South-East Asia
China gives you an excellent base of operation to travel all over Asia on the cheap. A flight from Beijing to Bangkok Thailand costs as low as 400USD (return flight). So if you are one of those that wants to explore South East Asia while also making money, China will be the right place for you. On top of that, if you are a freelancer that is already a travel addict, there’s no lack of opportunities for your skills.
Advantage of Learning Mandarin
Mandarin is a complex language, but given that the Chinese economy is a behemoth hard to dismiss, learning it directly on location while working and building your network might become a very useful tool. Even if and when you decide to leave China, being proficient in Mandarin will be in high demand for many global companies that wants to invest in China or that already does business with China. And relocating to China is a lot less complicated than it sounds.
Amazing Business Opportunities in China
This is probably the reason why most people will come to China. The pool of opportunities is undeniable. For the longest time, most expats were going to China mainly to teach English. Recent reports show a shift in that trend with new rising sectors such as journalism, marketing and engineering. We mentioned earlier that you bring with you a very interesting set of skills. Those skills are in high need for Chinese companies that are more and more branching out and expanding their business on an international level. The media sphere and the growth in the movie industry abroad with Chinese productions were already giving a sense of that evolution. But with the rise of the new technology sector and production, many IT companies and start up that had a high growth over the last years need to expand their market. The AI industry, the AR/VR industry an the gaming industry with giants like Tencent and Xiaomi are a good example of how fast it develops and the need for international talent to power these tech industries.
