The second Job Fair for Foreign Students in China was recently held at Peking University by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) under the Ministry of Education. Offering career opportunities for foreign students, the event introduced policies related to working in China.

More than 2,500 students from 20 universities and scientific institutions attended the job fair, including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Beijing Language and Culture University, Renmin University of China, Beijing Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Sun Jianming, director of CSCSE, said that with the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese enterprises now face an increasing demand for foreign employees.

More than 30 companies, including China Railway Construction Corporation (International) Limited and PowerChina Resources, LTD., advertised 450 jobs at the event, covering infrastructure, automobile manufacturing and trade, high-speed rail, Internet and communication, education consultancy, financial services and translation. Many small and medium-sized startup companies participated in the event.

A survey conducted by CSCSE in April showed that 95 percent of foreign students in China worked in the country after graduation, and 64.7 percent hoped to work at overseas branches of Chinese enterprises. Meanwhile, 70.1 percent said they preferred jobs at international companies.

The Ministry of Public Security released a series of new exit and entry policies in 2015 in the pilot cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong, relaxing restrictions for foreign students to work in China. For instance, foreign students from universities in Beijing can start their own businesses in Zhongguancun, China's technology hub, with the approval of their universities.