"I Will Never Hire Overseas Returnees"...Chinese Students Hit Hard by U.S.-China Tensions in Job Market

Amid U.S.-China Tensions, Mistrust in Both Countries
Returnees Face Major Hurdles in Finding Employment

There was a time when a U.S. university degree was considered a "golden ticket" for Chinese students, as it paved the way for better jobs and a more secure future back home. However, as tensions between the United States and China have intensified, that "ticket" has instead become a double-edged sword. This is because Chinese international students have become targets of anti-immigration policies and counter-espionage investigations under the Donald Trump administration in the United States, while in China, they are increasingly viewed as "potential spies," making it difficult for them to find jobs.

In front of Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Photo by Haeyoung Kwon

On September 14 (local time), CNN reported that "Chinese students with U.S. degrees are finding it difficult to secure a place for themselves in either country." Lian, a 24-year-old from southeastern China who studied in the United States for three years and earned a master's degree, dreamed of working on Wall Street in New York after graduation. However, while working as an intern in China in July last year, her student visa was suddenly revoked. After majoring in economic statistics at a Chinese university, Lian went to the United States, but was subject to a policy implemented during the first Trump administration in 2020 that effectively banned visa issuance for students and researchers from Chinese universities linked to the Chinese military, resulting in her being denied entry to the United States.

She decided to seek employment in China and applied to more than 70 state-owned banks and financial firms, but was rejected by all of them, with most not even passing her through the document screening stage. It was only in March this year that Lian found a job at a private company in Shanghai. She told CNN that her experience studying in the United States seemed to be an obstacle to public sector employment, saying, "If you get caught up in the disputes between the two countries (the United States and China), there is no other choice."

Treated as 'Spies' in Both the U.S. and China...Chinese Students Studying in the U.S. Face a Dilemma

CNN reported that the number of overseas students returning to China has steadily increased under President Xi Jinping, rising sharply from 350,000 in 2013 to 1 million in 2021. However, during the same period, as nationalism and patriotism have been increasingly emphasized and vigilance regarding national security has grown, employers have begun to view not only applicants from the United States but also those from foreign universities in general with suspicion.

Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, pointed out that paranoia about espionage has become a kind of "social norm" in China due to social media campaigns by the Ministry of State Security, the country's counter-espionage agency, leading companies to be less welcoming of overseas graduates than before. The Ministry of State Security regularly promotes cases on social media, claiming that foreign spies are everywhere and that Chinese students studying for doctorates abroad have been recruited by foreign intelligence agencies to participate in leaking state secrets.

International Students Blocked from the Public Sector...Perception That 'Domestic Talent Is More Efficient'

Harvard University Campus. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

Amid these developments, since 2023, several local governments have excluded overseas university graduates from the pool of candidates for the "selected graduates" system, which recruits top university graduates for high-level public official positions. Recently, even Guangdong Province, considered one of the most open regions in China, has joined this trend. In April, Dong Mingzhu, chairwoman of Gree, China's largest air conditioner manufacturer, stated at a shareholders' meeting, "I will never hire anyone who has lived abroad and returned to China, because there could be spies among them." CNN noted that this remark was particularly shocking because it was made by a prominent private company leader, whereas such "spy suspicion" comments had previously been mostly heard in state-owned enterprises.

Among Chinese companies, there is also a strong perception that domestic graduates are more "efficient" than overseas returnees. This is attributed to their relatively lower labor costs and better adaptation to the local market. Yuan Xin, a career consultant in Shanghai, explained, "Chinese companies prefer domestic talent who have a stronger work ethic and a better understanding of the local market."Furthermore, there is skepticism that students familiar with Western culture will struggle to adapt to the Chinese "996 work schedule" (working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week). This has led to the stereotype that "overseas returnees are less dedicated," which has become a barrier in the job market.