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Wednesday 01 Oct 2025
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
People walk past a robot at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center Arena, in Shenzhen, China, on September 18, 2025. (Photo/AP)
China will officially launch its K-visa programme on October 1, 2025, a new initiative aimed at attracting global talent, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
The programme, targeting young professionals, allows applicants to enter China without employer sponsorship and offers long-term residency, tax benefits, housing support, streamlined administrative procedures, and access to international-standard schooling for dependents.
The move comes amid sweeping changes to the US H‑1B visa programme. On September 19, 2025, US President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 fee for new H‑1B visa applications — a measure widely seen as further restricting America’s ability to attract foreign talent. While renewals and existing H‑1B holders are exempt, the announcement has sparked global concern — especially in India, the largest beneficiary of the visa.
In 2024, 283,397 Indian nationals received H‑1B approvals, representing roughly 71 percent of the total. Chinese applicants were second, with 46,680 visas, or about 11.7 percent. Other countries, including the Philippines, Canada, and South Korea, accounted for much smaller shares, each representing between 1 and 1.3 percent of approvals.
Although Beijing announced the K-visa on August 7, 2025, analysts note that the timing of the rollout — just weeks after Trump’s H-1B changes — is particularly significant.
Former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbaev calls Trump’s move “one of the most scandalous policy blunders in recent memory” and describes Beijing’s K-visa as a “masterstroke” in the battle for global talent. “The US is saying: We don’t need you. China is saying: We welcome you,” Otorbaev notes, highlighting the stark contrast in political signalling.
Swaran Singh, Professor of International Relations at Jawaharlal Nehru University, echoes this view: “The K-visa at best can be described as one of the many tools that Beijing has introduced undergirding its rise as a great power of the 21st century,” he tells TRT World.
China’s K-visa is part of a broader scramble to attract skilled professionals affected by US visa restrictions. Countries like Germany, the UK, Canada and South Korea have already announced initiatives targeting Indian and other talent displaced by H‑1B restrictions.
But China’s move is particularly notable because it is part of a long-term strategy to position the country as a global innovation hub.
Gao Jian, Professor at Shanghai International Studies University, describes the policy as a proactive, open, and inclusive international talent strategy. “International talent is a key strategic resource for gaining initiative in global scientific competition,” Gao tells TRT World, noting that the K-visa complements existing visa programmes for top-tier experts.
Otorbaev highlights the visa’s revolutionary design: “Unlike the suffocating US system, no employer sponsorship or invitation letter is required. Flexibility, multiple entries, and a broad scope of activity are built in. This is a radical reversal of the traditional Chinese approach to foreigners.”
China has eased entry regulations, expanded visa-free travel, and signed reciprocal visa waiver agreements with 75 countries — efforts reflected in the first half of 2025, when international trips to and from China surged 30.2 percent, with visa-free entries rising 53.9 percent.
“Through top-level strategic design, continuous institutional innovation, and meticulous service optimisation, China’s international talent policy is demonstrating a powerful magnetic effect to inject a continuous stream of international intellectual support into the nation’s innovative development,” adds Gao, who is also a visiting fellow at Tsinghua University’s Center for International Strategy and Security Studies.
The United States has historically benefited from immigration-driven innovation. Following World War II, talent inflows helped underpin the American-led world order in science, technology, and higher education. This historical advantage has been a cornerstone of US soft power — now threatened by Trump’s H-1B changes.
Josef Gregory Mahoney, Professor of Politics at East China Normal University in Shanghai, warns that tightening H‑1B access may have unintended consequences. “Whatever policy the US implements, the welcome mat and opportunities found in China will compete well with any found elsewhere in the world,” he tells TRT World, adding that US policies reflect a “profound lack of vision coupled with a regrettable degree of discrimination.”
Mahoney predicts a cascade effect. “With less Chinese going to the US already, and a likely decline in Indians forthcoming, I would not be surprised to see more Indians leaving the US for China or coming directly from India,” says the Shanghai-based American professor, noting warming ties between New Delhi and Beijing — “also a result of Trump’s tariff war against both the Asian giants.”
Otorbaev similarly notes that the K-visa targets “young professionals at the start of their careers — graduates, researchers, and rising innovators,” embedding the next generation into China’s innovation ecosystem. “In a world where innovation is the decisive force shaping national power, this change is nothing less than revolutionary,” he argues, highlighting the visa’s forward-looking strategy.
Yet Singh, the professor from India, tempers expectations. “With increasing problems for young talent to enter the United States and pursue the proverbial ‘American dream,’ some of that flow will find alternatives,” he says, while cautioning that China may not immediately become the top choice for Indian students.
With the recent thaw in diplomatic relations, China is emerging as an attractive destination for Indian students, thanks largely to the affordability of its educational programmes. Medicine remains the most popular field, while engineering and artificial intelligence courses are reportedly gaining growing interest this year. The latest available figures put the number of Indian students in China at anywhere between 20,000 and 25,000.
“These students, mostly in medicine, usually have a positive view of China. But as of now, I do not see China coming anywhere amongst the top ten choices for foreign education or employment for Indian students.” He adds that geopolitics, trust, and cultural factors will continue to shape decisions, making it unlikely that Indian talent will immediately become a major contributor to China’s rise.
China’s K-visa is expected to attract early-career scientists and engineers from other parts of the Global South, as well as smaller numbers from developed countries. According to the latest data from China’s Ministry of Education, 253,177 international students were enrolled in the country’s higher education institutions as of December 2023.
Gao emphasises that China has diversified recruitment methods, including international competitions, overseas R&D centres, and flexible hiring mechanisms. “China's international talent policy is demonstrating a powerful magnetic effect to inject a continuous stream of international intellectual support into the nation's innovative development,” he says.
Otorbaev adds that the K-visa “fundamentally differs from most immigration systems in advanced economies, which heavily favour older, more experienced candidates. By contrast, China is betting on the potential of the next generation – and this forward-looking approach could yield dividends for years.”
Admitting that the effects of Trump’s H-1B policy on global tech talent mobility remain to be assessed, Gao notes that countries like Canada, the UK, and Germany are also actively competing for talent. “Despite its traditional advantages, the US is no longer the only attractive destination for world-class talents.”
Mahoney concurs, observing that the K-visa programme could further strengthen China’s ability to attract global talent, noting the country already boasts a robust network of innovation hubs — public and private — closely linked to leading companies and universities, backed by substantial R&D investment, advanced technologies, and attractive living and working environments.
“While the lure of the US as a top destination for STEM talents declines, perhaps no other country in the world is moving as effectively towards the future as China currently is,” he adds.
Otorbaev concludes: “Where others build barriers, China is opening gateways. That choice could make all the difference in the battle for talent that defines our time.”
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Source: TRT
