Shang Ning’s Blog

How Much Does LaoWai Makes In China

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008.

Ten years ago, we Chinese could hardly see foreigners on street, so we named foreigners LaoWai, and believed they are richer than Chinese.

But today, there are more and more LaoWai in China, they come to China for study, work, business, travel or found families.

How much does foreigner make in China? Are they really can find higher salary than Chinese?

In contrast, Chinese or full-time blogger lives in a low income level in China, but LaoWai also can not get enough preferential policies or enviable salary.

Recent years, more and more foreigners come to China, there are over 200,000 foreigners work in China, so they have to working hardly to earn money as same as Chinese workers.

Usually, they work in the embassies, foreign companies, or teach English in schools, and do a part time works for movies or advertisements. But the most LaoWai works in telemarketing or translation.

Their salary almost with Chinese high salary workers, the salary is about 6,000 to 10,000 RMB per month. Of course, this level income is high for the most common workers, most workers’ salary just about 2,000 to 5,000 RMB per month.

Compared with serval years ago, LaoWai’s salary become lower and lower.

Update: I suddenly remember my friend Mabel, she worked in GanJi Friend Link Team. She told me that she is a girl, not a boy. For my mistake, please let me advertise her company website again:

If you lives in Beijing and need to find jobs, GanJi will give you a lot of help, you can: search jobs in it (job wanted), post your job-hunting infomation (job available), or try to get some part time jobs.

The last, this service is just opened for the LaoWai in Beijing now ;)

4 Responses to “How Much Does LaoWai Makes In China”

Shangning
June 4th, 2008 at 2:34 am

Here is an old news I searched, it’s another topic about the Foreigners Working in China:

A lack of qualified personnel in both the private and public sectors has seen the number of foreigners working in the country soar.

Expatriates legally employed in the country last year almost doubled compared with three years earlier, reaching a record high of more than 150,000, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

The rise is mainly seen in overseas-funded companies and local offices of multinationals as they expand rapidly in the coastal areas as well as big cities in the inland provinces.

The most sought-after positions include those in information technology (IT) and management, including human resources and finance departments.

In Shanghai alone, where more than half of the global top 500 multinationals have a presence, an estimated 40,000 foreigners work.

The State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs is also hiring foreign experts every year.

“Foreigners with managerial and professional skills are welcome to work in China,” said Gao Lin, an official with the ministry’s employment department, adding that more are coming after the country joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.

Lack of talents to fill new positions is a major reason behind the influx of foreign professionals.

The IT and telecommunications sectors, new materials and energies, high-tech and financial industries are particularly in need of foreign talent, said Wang Tongxun, a senior expert with the Chinese Academy of Personnel Science under the Ministry of Personnel.

“It means greater opportunities for both domestic and overseas talented people,” he said. But since most domestic jobseekers cannot meet the requirements, foreigners fill the breach.

For instance, senior personnel in finance and accounting, like finance controllers, are urgently needed, Mercer Consulting said in a mid-March report after it co-sponsored a survey with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

But most senior accounting positions are taken by expatriates, it said.

Key positions such as marketing managers of overseas enterprises and foreign-funded hotels, and top posts in banks and manufacturers are also mostly taken by foreigners.

For these jobs, “expatriates are paid two to three times higher than their local counterparts,” said Alan Zhang, who leads Mercer’s Human Capital Product Solutions business in China.

“Most expatriates used to take up senior managerial or senior technical positions. But since 2004, there is an increasing trend to assign expatriates at middle management and professional level,” he added.

liciece
June 7th, 2008 at 5:34 pm

As an ACCA student,I hope that gap can remain for long time so that I can get a better payout once I get hired. :)

Teacher Joe
June 21st, 2008 at 5:47 pm

Keep in mind that laowais who get higher salaries also have higher expenses. To visit her family, my colleague spends about 150 yuan for a train ticket. To visit my family, I have to spend 14,000 for an airplane ticket. To enter a hospital (just go through the door), my colleague spends 0 yuan. I must pay 50 yuan. Then I pay 2 to 5 times more for treatment. It was also more expensive for me to become a teacher. My colleague spent very little on her education. I had to spend about 250,000 yuan.

This does not mean that foreigners necessarily deserve higher salaries. Actual salaries depend on the real value of the work and skills brought to the job. But if foreigners do not make enough money to cover their expenses, they will not be able to afford travelling all the way to China to work.

Chinese
August 7th, 2008 at 12:49 am

I’ve seen on this website (http://www.chinese-tools.com/study) that one year study in China university for a foreigner is about 20,000 RMB! And you say that most workers’ salary just about 2,000 to 5,000 RMB per month. One year study (10 month in reality) for a foreigner is the same than one year salary of a Chinese worker?
How much does a chinese student pay for one university year?

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