China fails in survey whilst rival Taiwan soars

China fails in survey whilst rival Taiwan soars

China fails in survey whilst rival Taiwan soars

Taiwan’s prime position in the latest expat survey isn’t about to make China's day.

China’s breakaway island is now ranked as the second best destination for expat professionals as against China and Hong Kong’s dismal rankings of 55th and 56th in the Expat Insider survey. Respondents to the survey ranked the island tops at providing quality of life as well as praising it for its affordable healthcare, public safety, good transport infrastructure, friendly locals and the ease of settling and finding new friends. Just about the only serious downside was the local language, referred to as a ‘significant barrier’ as it’s nothing like Standard Chinese or any other tongue and its native speakers seem to shout rather than speak!

Whilst expat salaries aren’t as sky-high as in many other Asian destinations, most respondents said they were relatively happy with their financial situations. Another cause for praise was Taiwan’s much shorter working week, giving them more time to spend with their families and friends. The comparatively low cost of living was mentioned by many respondents as one of the most positive aspects of their move to Taiwan.

Given the strained relationship between Taiwan and China including Hong Kong, the fact the island won second place as best expat destination may have caused controversy and even jealousy. China and Hong Kong were both stuck at the bottom of the best countries' list, having received ratings of 55th and 56th out of the 65 destinations surveyed. China didn’t impress expats in any of the categories although ‘economy and job security’ scored a reasonable 12th but, in the crucial ‘digital life’, ‘language’, ‘feeling at home’ and ‘health and well-being’ categories the result was little short of disastrous. Perhaps the biggest shock to the Chinese collective libido was Hong Kong’s falling 17 spots from its position in the 2017 survey, mostly due to its horrendous cost of living.

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