Shanghai tops expat desirability list

Source: International Talent magazine

More than half of the respondents hoped departments or organizations in Shanghai would improve medical insurance and service for foreigners, and simplify the procedures for them to enter the country.

Wang Huiyao, director of the China Center for Globalization, a think tank in Beijing, said, "Chinese cities' attraction to foreigners will increase dramatically if the government takes a step forward in issues such as medical insurance, visas and green cards."

More than a third of expats want to stay in China

More than a third of expats who participated in the survey said they wished to live in China in the long term (33.9 percent). There is a relatively large gender difference, where 38.8 percent of men expressed a stronger intention to remain in China, more than 10 percent higher than that for women (25.6 percent).

Furthermore, more older foreign professionals, especially those more than 40 years of age, said they wished to live in China in the long term. Willingness to stay for expats older than 50 (45.2 percent) was more than double of that in younger professionals aged from 18 to 30 (21.9 percent).

Single expats don't mind marrying Chinese

The mentality for expats living in China has shifted from a sense of "strangeness" to a sense of "belonging."

More than half of single foreign professionals (55.2 percent) said they don't mind marrying a local Chinese. The percentage for those who don't mind their children marrying Chinese is even higher, a striking number at 71.3 percent.