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China

Academic Career Structure

Introduction

According to the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, the government authority on all matters pertaining to education in China has played a significant role in economic growth, scientific progress and social development in the country. In recent years, China has also became a major destination for international students. As of 2013, China is the most popular country in Asia for international students, and has become the world's third most popular study destination.

Higher Education in China

Higher education in China is continuously growing, changing and developing. There are over 2,000 universities and colleges, with more than six million enrollments in total. China has set up a degree system, including Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees that are also open to foreign students and higher education institutions offer non-degree programmes as well.

Career Curriculum

Academic positions in economics are mainly tenure track, with the similar evaluation rules as the US research universities. Universities have high research requirements (publications in good or even top international journals), but low teaching requirements. Most universities in China allow you to finish all teaching in one semester, and the other semester (actually, the other 6 months), you could stay outside China. Many scholars use this opportunity to spend the rest of the year in Europe or in the US working with their co-authors, or to stay with their families. While this benefit applies to junior faculty memebr as well, it is better to ask about this before signing the contract.

The teaching load is usually 2-3 courses per year, but the semester is longer in China, around 50-55 teaching hours per course.

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Requirements for Positions

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Research Career

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Barriers to Career Advancement

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Job Security

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Contracts and Duties

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Sabbatical Opportunities

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Gross Salaries

Gross monthly salary levels, before taxes.

Start	Average	Max
PhD Candidate	--	--	--
Postdoc	--	--	--
Assistant Professor	--	3.500/2.500 €/month	--
Associate Professor	--	--	--
Full Professor	--	--	--

Source: personal.

It is difficult to provide representative data on salaries in Chinese academia, since salaries for senior positions (associate/full professor) are normally based on individual case and salaries are confidential.

There are, however, some estimations of the salary levels of teh Chinese academics.The assistant professor salary of 3.500 €/month is for big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen. Please note that additional to the salaries for junior positions, there is a housing allowance of 10.000-20.000 Euro for those working at a university for 3-5 years. There is also a reallocation fee, which is around 2.000 Euro, and the research funding for the first three years is around 3.500 Euro. It is also possible to negotiate for higher contributions, depending on the family situation and academic performance.

In Law, salaries very from one school to another and so do the teaching loads. There are several hundred law schools in China, and the applicants should check the requirements of the specific law schools and may be able to negotiate for his/her contract.

In the medium size cities, such as Chengdu and Wuhan, assistant professor salary is lower, around 2.500 €/month, while the research funds and family allowance depend on negotiation.

The income tax for Chinese citizens is around 25-30% for the above salaries (please note that this might be different for non-Chinese citizens).

Number of Existing Positions

Disciplines
Ph.D. Candidate	--	--	--
Postdoc	--	--	--
Assistant Professor	--	--	--
Associate Professor	--	--	--
Full Professors	--	--	--

Source:

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Internal Recruitment

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Accessibility for Non-Nationals

Openness vary across disciplines (with job market for Economics being more open than the job market in Law, History and Political Science), and the majority of candidates applying for positions in Chinese academia are Chienese. The most open job market is in Economics, since positions are advertized internationally through American Economic Association (AEA). For Economics positions in China, available at the AEA page, check here.