Hangzhou, China’s answer to ‘Silicon Valley’, is a hit with returning graduates, study finds
It’s home to some of China’s biggest technology companies. And now growing numbers of overseas graduates returning to China want to make Hangzhou their home too, according to a new study.
The eastern mainland city, widely regarded as China’s answer to “Silicon Valley”, was selected by 7 per cent of the 104,000 graduates surveyed by online recruiter zhipin.com as their preferred location to live and work.
Although that pales compared to Beijing and Shanghai, which were each chosen by about a quarter of the respondents, it differs in one important way: its apparent attractiveness to overseas-educated Chinese graduates grew, whereas theirs declined, according to the survey.
The share of jobseekers opting for Hangzhou was up by 0.7 percentage points from last year, making it the fourth most popular city among the group.
The results appeared to suggest established major cities are losing some of their shine with Chinese people returning home after studying abroad.
Hangzhou, the capital city of the eastern coastal Zhejiang province, is home to internet giants like Alibaba Group Holding and NetEase. The report said its status as a booming “new economy” – one based largely on technology start-ups – made it more attractive to young graduates who have attended universities and colleges abroad.
