中文
Tourists from Australia visit the Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) Park in Beijing, capital of China, May 1, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
By Gao Jian
China's introduction of the K-visa, effective from October 1, 2025, as a transformative step in global talent policy, indicates a strategic pivot toward institutional openness and international collaboration. This initiative, targeting young STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) professionals, offers unprecedented flexibility for research, entrepreneurship and cultural exchange. It underscores China's recognition that "development requires the participation of talent from around the world" – a philosophy embedded in national strategies like the "talent-driven development" agenda outlined at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
The K-visa policy positions international talent as a key strategic resource for gaining initiative in global scientific and technological competition and driving high-quality development. To this end, China is committed to establishing a talent institutional system with international appeal and competitiveness, with key measures reflected across multiple dimensions.
Regarding visa and residency facilitation, the policy system is particularly finely tuned, not only establishing R-visas valid for up to 10 years for top-tier high-level talents to smooth their entry channel but also notably introducing the new K visa for young scientific and technological talents.
This innovative measure, which can be applied for without employer sponsorship, significantly conveniences the threshold for outstanding young scholars to come to China, demonstrating the policy's long-term vision for talent pipeline development and its high regard for youthful potential.
Beyond visa facilitation, China is also focused on creating a comprehensive and user-friendly service and support system aimed at resolving the "worries" talents may have after arriving. A series of convenient measures are provided for critical aspects of life, from entry-exit procedures and long-term residency to personal income tax benefits, social insurance, housing guarantees and even children's education.
By building international talent communities and "one-stop" service platforms, efforts are being made to create a favorable environment where talents can "come, stay and thrive," enabling them to settle down and focus on innovative work in China.
A young foreigner looks on at a job fair at a talent market in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 17, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
Through top-level strategic design, continuous institutional innovation and meticulous service optimization, 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.
By embedding the visa within a broader agenda of "systemic openness," including reforms in data governance, green standards and financial integration, China is signaling that talent mobility is inextricable from institutional trust. The government's plan to publish detailed guidelines via embassies and optimize application systems reflects a pragmatic, iterative approach.
Competition for talents is always existent in this world as all modernized countries have a full knowledge of the importance of talents for the development of technological innovation. The U.S. has its traditional advantages in attracting highly skilled professionals.
Historically, the U.S. dominated as a destination for elite professionals. However, the newly adopted U.S. H-1B visa program proposed a new rule in September 2025 with significant changes. A new $100,000 fee on certain new applications and a proposed shift from a random lottery to a wage-level-weighted selection system is set up. The policy particularly impacts India, as Indian nationals accounted for 71 percent of all approved H-1B applications in 2024. Rising barriers have prompted countries like Canada, Germany and Australia to intensify recruitment efforts for the scramble for high-end talents.
Although the effects of the American new H-1B on the global tech talent mobility still remain to be assessed, the truth has been widely acknowledged that the U.S. is not the only attractive destination for world-class talents.
China is dedicated to building up a multilateral international world for the improvement of the current international order. Its new visa policy will count towards this goal. China's talent policies are strategically designed to reinforce its commitment to an open society. The introduction of the K visa for young foreign STEM talent, that simplifies entry without an employer sponsor, signals a more accessible system. It aligns with broader goals of integrating China into global innovation networks.
Multilaterally, these initiatives are framed as contributing to shared global challenges, such as climate change and public health, positioning China as a collaborative partner in the global community. Talents are actively cultivated for deeper engagement with the pioneering research fields and global governance structures.
Ultimately, these efforts aim to project an image of China as an open hub within global talent flows, contrasting with protectionist trends elsewhere and underscoring its role in fostering international cooperation and knowledge exchange.
China's K visa initiative redefines talent competition as a collaborative endeavor rather than a geopolitical contest. By replacing rigidity with flexibility and isolation with integration, the policy underscores China's role as a responsible stakeholder in a multipolar world.
While the U.S. and other nations retreat behind barriers, China's openness offers a template for how states can harness globalization's benefits through institutional innovation. The K visa is not about displacing the U.S.-led order but about enriching it with diverse pathways for progress.
As global challenges, from climate change to pandemics, demand collective solutions, China's model of talent mobility promises to advance shared prosperity through mutual learning and exchange.
Gao Jian, a special commentator for CGTN, is director of the Centre of Sino-Britain People-to-people Dialogue at Shanghai International Studies University, and a distinguished researcher of China Forum at Tsing Hua University.
