Number of expats working and living in Xiamen exceeds 10,000

Currently, there are two main ways to calculate the total number of expats in Xiamen: one is by the number of expats who leave entry-exit records after entering China via Xiamen; the other is the number of expats working and living in Xiamen who file personal income tax declarations to the Xiamen Local Taxation Bureau. 

There are two main categories of expats working and living in Xiamen: invited overseas talents and their accompanying family members, and overseas students. 

According to rough statistics, the number of expats living in Xiamen has exceeded 10,000. 

The statistics from the Xiamen Local Taxation Bureau showed that 10,231 expats filed personal income tax declarations in Xiamen in 2014. Most of them were invited overseas talents working as executives, experts and teachers. 

From 2008 to the present, the Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs in Xiamen has issued 3,858 certificates for foreign experts. Most of the foreign experts are from the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan. They are mainly engaged in jobs related to science, education, culture and heath care. The proportion of foreign expats in the aforementioned two job categories is 7:3. 

Overseas students are an active group among expats in Xiamen, generally studying in colleges and universities in Xiamen. The number of overseas students studying in Xiamen University and Huaqiao University represented almost 50 percent of the total number overseas students in Xiamen. 

The statistics showed that the more than 1,000 overseas students in the Overseas Education College of Xiamen University are from 70 countries including the United States, Russia, Turkey, Korea, Thailand and Japan, and they are mainly studying Chinese for Foreigners and Chinese Education. 

Huaqiao University also has nearly 1,000 overseas students, most of who are also studying Chinese for Foreigners and Chinese Education.