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July 12, 2016

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Welcoming expats and tapping their talents

By Xu Wenwen | July 12, 2016, Tuesday | Print Edition

FOR foreigners looking to work in China, a new “career speed-dating” system has been unveiled in the Hangzhou Cross-Border Trade Town. It’s just one of many services aimed at tapping the expertise of expats and making them feel at home in the city.

A hundred expatriates from countries like the US, Russia and Germany participated on one such event recently. Each outlined his or her experience, talent and dedication to good working habits. The presentations were made to entrepreneurs, investors and corporate personnel managers from across China.

Nineteen of the foreigners had bagged jobs by the end of the session, finding investors in sectors such as modeling and mining.

According to local authorities, there are around 20,000 foreigners studying, living or working in Hangzhou.

“Career speed-dating” is an innovation started two months ago by the four-year-old Foreign Business Career Center in an area of Hangzhou where trading companies, information technology firms and companies selling imported goods are congregated.

The center offers foreigners help with training, job hunting and advice on starting up companies. Though based in Hangzhou, it accepts both individual and company clients from other cities.

“These services are necessary as more foreigners come to China,” said Feng Qinglong, chief executive of the career center. “The market has growing potential, and there are few agencies like this available.”

Uzbek native Romanov Daniel, who studied hotel management under the center’s guidance, said the services it provides are “more than satisfactory.”

He found work at a Hangzhou hotel in less than 10 days.

Ecuadorian Miguel Marca was even luckier. He won an internship at an investment company in only three days.

With help from the local government, Feng founded as part of Hangzhou’s efforts to promote its international stature and woo professional expertise from abroad in the campaign to advance innovation. In the four years it has been in operation, the center has dealt with some 40,000 expats and 10,000 companies.

The center wants to encourage them to share their experiences from abroad in helping build modern-age China.

“The center acts as an incubator,” Feng said. “Some foreign students are from business families, and some come all the way to China to study because they see opportunities. Therefore, it is natural for some of them to want to start up companies.”

One such expat is Collins Mashinge from Zimbabwe. He came to Hangzhou and spotted the potential for an agency handling foreign actors and models who want to come to China. Now that his agency is up and running, he plans to start up an education project.

“The center has been my mentor,” said Mashinge. “It taught me how to look at the big picture while concentrating on the needs of the local market.”

So far, Feng and his colleagues have helped more than 30 companies start up. They include trading companies, cultural-exchange firms, IT companies and modeling agencies.

Getting a job is one aspect of life for foreigners in Hangzhou. But acclimating to everyday life in a new environment can be difficult for expats.

Yu Jia, 25, works in a property management company that assists the 30-plus foreigners living in the Dreamland residential area of Hangzhou. Her job includes handling postal packages for expats, translating when repairing services are needed and answering any questions that may arise.

Yu said she is often called upon to show expats how to download the apps for social networking site WeChat and online shopping platform Taobao, and how to connect the apps with their Chinese bankcards.

When an Italian’s electric bicycle had a flat tire, Yu drew a map showing him the nearest maintenance station. When another Italian had a problem with a retailer on Taobao, she helped him straighten out the mess. Sometimes she takes care of pets when owners are away,

“I like my work,” said Yu. “I feel proud that Hangzhou is so international and I am a part of the city’s progress.”

US citizen George Borrelli, 27, runs a WeChat account called ShareHangzhou and a website Hangzhou Plus, which serves as a cultural-exchange platform and source of practical information for foreigners living in Hangzhou.

The business was inspired by his own struggles when he first came to Hangzhou. Just finding a restaurant or entertainment via the Internet can be hard for those who don’t speak the language.

“Expats are not given many chances to start to really understand Hangzhou,” he explained.

Hangzhouplus.com now features a city directory, listings of events, tour information and articles on life in the city.

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