China Media Downplays Job Fears Over New K Visa

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00:00We're taking a look at what's trending in China right now.

00:02You have state media defending this new visa program to attract global tech talent

00:08after online posts expressing worries about losing jobs to foreigners.

00:12It certainly comes as official youth unemployment jumps to a two-year high, almost 19%.

00:17Min Min Lo, our China correspondent, is here with us to talk us through

00:19what concerns people have specifically about this new K visa.

00:24Yes, as you said, one of the big issues is that youth unemployment is very, very high.

00:28We're talking about nearly one in five young people in urban areas unable to find jobs.

00:33And so they're up in arms about this new visa, which many people say is to lose the requirements there

00:39because it is meant to attract STEM graduates from renowned universities

00:43and anyone who meets the criteria with a bachelor's degree can apply.

00:48And so on social media, and you can see this chart, it shows you the youth unemployment rate.

00:52It's at the highest level since 2023 when there was the gap there

00:56because the government was revamping the methodology for collecting the data.

01:01And on social media, people are saying that, you know, there are already so many graduates in China,

01:06including master's graduates, because when people have no jobs, what do they do?

01:09They continue studying.

01:10So there is that education inflation going on.

01:13There are 12 million new graduates entering the job market now.

01:16So they're saying bachelor's degree is too low a requirement for this new K visa.

01:20And it's also not clear what exactly constitutes a renowned university as well.

01:24And then other people are saying that the English language advantage that foreigners have,

01:29that gives them a leg up over most local graduates in China as well.

01:33And still others are saying that it's an issue of foreign nationals getting special treatment here

01:38and being treated better than the Chinese nationals.

01:41Okay.

01:43That certainly is the worries among the public.

01:45Tell us a little bit more about what the government has done.

01:47They've responded, they're just defending still this program.

01:50What are they saying?

01:50Yes, well, the Chinese foreign ministry has said that they will be releasing more information

01:54about this new visa through foreign embassies and consulates.

01:57But the party newspaper People's Daily has published an editorial to try to defend themselves

02:02and really talking about the advantage of this policy.

02:05A part of it is juxtaposing against the U.S. policy here

02:09and saying that China still is opening its doors to foreign talents, right?

02:12But it's also saying that, you know, some people are misunderstanding this policy

02:16and spreading bizarre rumors that is causing unnecessary anxiety.

02:20And it says it's very narrow-minded to think that China doesn't need foreign talent

02:25because any country that wants to succeed in the modern world must be able to attract top talents.

02:30And it says China is big enough with ample space to be able to absorb all sorts of talents

02:35and also that there is this shortage of talents in key manufacturing sectors

02:39with a talent gap of about 30 million people.

02:43It didn't really address the crux of the issue, though, the youth unemployment issue.

02:46That wasn't really mentioned in the article.

02:48And I think people are still a little bit unsatisfied with that.

02:51And if you look online on the visa application page, it's interesting you don't see that category

02:55available for application now, even though it's supposed to be available from October.

02:59So not clear, is that delay because of the October holidays

03:03or is the government taking time to sort of fine-tune some of the details there?

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