When the pandemic hit, it took a toll on everyone, from high government officials to the common citizens. Many people were confined to their homes, while others were desperately looking to make ends meet. Some people lost their lifestyles and had to downgrade to a great extent, and some people had to leave mature careers to ensure they get food on their tables. The situation was almost similar for people across the globe. While China has been able to successfully get a handle on the covid-19 situation by controlling the outbreak and slowing down the death rates significantly when compared to other countries like the United States of America or the United Kingdom.
A Rising Power
Over the years, China was able to secure its place as the number 1 export of talent as Chinese nationals were flying across the globe and gaining the knowledge and expertise that the western states had to offer. Still, since last year, the cross-border flow of people has been at an all-time low; in fact, the travel rate of mainland citizens who are looking to travel from or to China has gone down by 79% compared to the number of people traveling in 2019.
Travel Lockdown
However, the officials are hopeful that the number will rise now that the Chinese government has taken measures recently to ease the restrictions which will facilitate entry into China. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done as businesses are suffering. Chinese staff at foreign multinationals have been unable to return to their headquarters which has slowed down the process of knowledge-sharing, training, and networking.
Struggling to Attract Foreign Crowd
The damage has only been aggravated by the fact that the foreign talent currently residing in China has also left by the start of the Pandemic. In May, surveys by the European Chamber of Commerce in China showed that 74% of the participants said they struggled to attract and invite qualified foreign staff to China. They continued and stated that the people for the senior positions are declining their request to work in China after the recent COVID-19 outbreak. That is not all; it is reported that around 40%-60% of the foreign teaching staff will leave by this year which will cause quite the chaos in the country’s educational sector and create a severe teacher shortage.
In January, Volkswagen also announced that it plans to cut 30% of the number of employees in China and several other big names like Apple followed it. As of now, China is on a mission to grow and become the world’s leading economy.
It is time that the Chinese Government finds a middle ground for its citizens which will ensure their safety and maintain the growing speed of economic growth of the country.