What are the Best Paid jobs in China for Foreigners?

If you’re looking to put in some hard work, you should most certainly consider a few of the best paid jobs in China for foreigners. If the US was the place to go to realise your (financial) dreams 120 years ago, then China is that place today. Let’s have a look at some the best paid jobs for foreigners in China. The teaching ticket When going through the site, I found that for every job other than English teaching, there were up to 10 English teaching jobs available. There’s a massive need for English teachers in China, which in turn means teaching jobs in China are relatively easy to obtain. The competition to hire good teachers also inflates the salaries. In short, China is a good place to be an English teacher. The graph shows us there is not always a direct correlation between obtainability and salary when it comes to jobs in China. For example, a sales development manager, which is a job that requires specialties and experience, can earn less than a kindergarten teacher, a job that is relatively easy to obtain. In fact, I found the average salary for foreigners working in China is around 20,000 RMB per month, regardless of job. Whether you think this is a high or a low salary probably depends on where you’re coming from, your educational background and your expectations in China. Do keep in mind, however, that the taxes in China and the cost of living are lower than in most developed countries. Perhaps the best line of work for foreigners in China — jobs that are relatively easy to obtain and come with a competitive salary (even by international standards) — is specialised teaching in public schools or taking a position within the school management, as a curriculum designer, or even as a principal, for example. These jobs, of course, will require experience in the field, but you can earn this by starting out as a regular teacher. The average salary for specialised teachers and education managers in China ranges between 35,000 – 45,000 RMB and often comes with some pretty attractive benefits, such as bonuses and rent-free apartments. Foreign expertise By further examining the advertised positions on www.georjob.com, some other trends became visible to me. In general, jobs that require foreign experience and knowledge of the Western market and its inherent mechanisms, and in extension good multilingual language proficiency, are in high demand and therefore come with higher salaries. There are plenty on offer, although their numbers naturally pale in comparison to English teaching roles. Tech crunch Technical jobs, such as engineering, programming and general work in the technical field, however, are less in demand than they used to be. It stands to reason that China’s domestic workforce is just as skilled (perhaps even more so) in these roles. A Chinese worker may also settle for a lower salary than a foreigner, and hiring a Chinese person in a Chinese company in China is just so much easier than wading through the bureaucracy and red tape to employ someone from overseas. The pinnacle If you want to jump right into a high-paying, high-status job in China and perhaps even get that mythical Chinese green card, then you should focus on honing your basketball skills (and become the next Kobe Bryant) or coming up with a very creative business idea. What are your thoughts on high-paying jobs in China?