China’s talent war tussle as red tape, US tensions shrink labour pool amid ‘people decoupling’
- US-China tensions, coupled with Beijing’s strict immigration policy and stringent coronavirus-control measures, have slowed the flow of foreign talent
- The likes of Taiwan and Singapore have stepped up efforts to attract workers from around the world as low birth rates and ageing populations shrink talent pools
Despite a pledge from President Xi Jinping late last year that China would “exhaust all means” to recruit innovative professionals from around the world, implementing the edict has hit a few roadblocks.
At the same time, fellow Asian economies such as Taiwan and Singapore have stepped up efforts to attract workers from around the world.
This is especially true for the technology industry, through offshore-hiring programmes, offering incentives to international students at local universities, and making it easier to apply for visas and residency.
They, too, like mainland China, are dealing with a shrinking talent pool due to a low birth rate and ageing populations.
People-to-people decoupling … could become another amplifier of the more general economic and technological decoupling tendencies between China and the West
Frank Bickenbach and Liu Wan-hsin from the International Trade and Investment Research Centre at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy predicted in a paper published in the Intereconomics journal late last month that the number of foreigners living in China will continue to decline.