China silent on US H-1B visa hike, but opens doors to global talent
Beijing, Sep 22 (PTI): China on Monday declined to comment on US President Donald Trump's move to impose a hefty USD one lakh fee for H-1B visas, but at the same time invited global professionals to work in the country as it prepares to roll out a new employment visa next month.
On Friday last week, the Trump administration announced a USD 1,00,000 fee on H-1B visas. The fee is a one-time fee on submission of a new H-1B petition.
“China will not comment on the US visa policy,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a media briefing here when asked about Trump's decision.
However, at the same time, he said in the era of globalisation, cross-border talents promote technological and economic progress globally, and Beijing welcomes global professional talent to explore opportunities in the country.
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China welcomes “talents from various industries and areas across the world to come and stay in China, jointly contribute to the progress of the human society and achieve success in their careers”, Guo said.
Indians account for nearly 71 per cent (over 2.8 lakh) of all H-1B visas, followed by Chinese professionals with around 11.7 per cent or over 46,600.
While the US tightens its visa regime, China last month announced a new work permit called K-Visa under which qualified professionals from across the world can come to the country and explore work opportunities.
The K-Visa, set to take effect from Oct 1, is aimed at attracting young science and technology talent and does not require a domestic employer or entity to issue an invitation.
According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, the new visa category was approved by the State Council and signed into law by Premier Li Qiang last month as part of amendments to the country's entry and exit regulations.
China's silence on the H-1B issue comes against the backdrop of trade negotiations with the US, where student and work visas are also under discussion.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week spoke over the phone, during which they reportedly agreed to the US takeover of the popular Chinese app TikTok.
The US and Chinese trade negotiators concluded their fourth round of talks in Spain last week to reach a trade deal on tariffs.
As per the decision, China will add the K-Visa category to its existing 12 ordinary visa types, available to eligible science and technology professionals.
Compared to the existing visa types, K visas will offer more convenience to holders in terms of the number of permitted entries, validity period, and duration of stay.
K-Visa holders can also engage in education and cultural exchanges, science and technology activities, and entrepreneurship and business.
"China's development requires the participation of talent from around the world, and China's development also provides opportunities for them," Xinhua quoted an official as saying.
Separately, China has also announced visa-free entry for tourists from over 40 countries for short-term stays to boost travel.
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Syndicate extorting money from Rajasthan bus conductors for decades dismantled, 8 held
Kota(Rajasthan) (PTI): Police busted a syndicate that allegedly extorted money from Rajasthan Roadways bus conductors by forcing them to charge passengers without issuing tickets, even as they offered the conductors protection from vigilance checks, officials said.
Jhalawar Police carried out simultaneous raids across 12 districts and arrested eight people, including the gang leader, Narendra Singh Rajawat, an independent ward councillor in Jhalawar.
With this, the decades-long operations of the gang, which has caused substantial loss to the state transport corporation, has been dismantled, they said.
As part of 'Operation Clean Ride', police also captured the exchange of money on video in a sting operation, a senior officer said on Saturday.
Since the gang would pass on messages regarding vigilance teams to the bus conductors through STD phone booths in the early days of its operation, it came be known as the 'STD Gang'.
The gang threatened roadways staff with false complaints of corruption for not issuing tickets to passengers and job termination if the payments were not made.
The gang allegedly facilitated "large-scale ticketless travel" and shared "confidential vigilance information", resulting in heavy revenue loss to the state, police said.
Police claimed the gang's activities caused revenue losses of up to 40 per cent at certain locations.
Speaking in detail on the matter on Saturday, Jhalawar Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar said following a confidential complaint received on December 24, 2025, police began a discreet investigation.
Technical evidence, call detail records and UPI transaction details were collected by the probe team. A sting operation was conducted that recorded members of the accepting illegal payments from conductors at different bus stands.
Based on the findings, a coordinated raid plan was executed, and all arrests were made simultaneously so that they would have no time to flee or destroy evidence.
Police arrested eight accused, including gang leader Narendra Singh Rajawat. Rs 11,57,980 in cash, three cars, two motorcycles, one laptop, 15 mobile phones, a spy camera pen, roadways identity cards, STD diaries, bus security slips, passbooks, cheque books and several other documents were seized from them.
Additional detentions were made with the help of local police in Ajmer, Tonk, Chittorgarh, Jodhpur, Pratapgarh, Jaipur, Banswara, Kota and Agar in Madhya Pradesh for further investigation, the SP said.
Police said the syndicate had been operating in a structured and organised manner for several years. They allegedly collected between Rs 50 and Rs 200 per conductor per trip and Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,500 per bus in exchange for bypassing checks and suppressing violations.
Conductors who refused to pay were allegedly targeted through vigilance complaints and harassment, the officer said.
The probe also revealed that multiple criminal cases had earlier been registered against members of the gang in different police stations for offences including obstruction of public servants, assault, criminal intimidation and violations under the IPC and SC/ST Act. Several of these cases are currently pending trial in court.
The SP said police are coordinating with Rajasthan Roadways management for further investigation and to set up preventive measures for the future.
'Operation Clean Ride' involved district special teams, cyber teams and police personnel from multiple districts. Further investigation is underway to identify others involved in the syndicate and assess the total revenue loss caused, police said.
