Talented foreign graduates like China, but there's a catch

Green channel

As it continues to open to the outside world, China is gradually relaxing its residency and employment policies for foreign citizens.

"Green cards" were issued to 1,576 foreigners in 2016, up 163 percent year-on-year, data from the Ministry of Public Security show. A permanent resident's permit means they enjoy the same rights as Chinese in terms of buying property and sending their children to public schools, among other things.

The country began to ease the requirements for applicants in 2015, a move that has helped attract more overseas talent and boost international exchanges, according to the ministry.

Shanghai received six times the number of "green card" applications in 2016 than it did in 2015, with Beijing witnessing a 426 percent increase over the same period.

Australian student Thomas Linnette described the relaxed policies as a "welcome change" and said he expects there will be a large increase in fresh graduates seeking employment in China. However, he called on the government to go further and scrap the two-year work experience requirement for undergraduate students.

The 21-year-old student from Tsinghua University said he wants to work for a big tech company in China when he graduates in the summer.

"I love China. I have a girlfriend here, and I'm ready to start my life here with her after I graduate this June," he said.

"It will be really inconvenient for me to go back to Australia and work for two years to meet the current requirement for a working visa in China."

Linnette recently finished an internship at consultancy firm KPMG, where he analyzed China's outbound investment trends. He will soon start another internship at ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing.

"If I start work in China after graduation, my salary will be around A$40,000($30,000) per year, half the amount I would get in Australia," he said, but he still wants to work in China in order to face a different challenge.

"China is growing quite fast, with new and innovative industries springing up every day," Linnette added.

"I want to seize this growth opportunity and grow with China."