China will allow international students at Chinese universities nationwide to take part-time jobs during their studies to make the country’s higher education system more attractive.

The Chinese government has been introducing a number of exploratory changes allowing international students in Beijing and Shanghai to take part-time jobs or internships off campus as long as they obtain approval from their academic institutions and the entry and exit administrative authorities, according to a statement of Chinese Ministry of Education published by China Daily here on Tuesday.

In 2015, Shanghai, one of the educational innovators, implemented a pilot policy that enables international students who have graduated from a Chinese university to accept internships or to start their own business in the Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone for up to two years after graduation.

One year later, the city further eased the restriction and started to allow international students to start a business at the zone during their studies.

In 2016, the Ministry of Public Security implemented new policies to allow foreign students recommended by their host universities in Beijing to take part-time jobs with companies in the city’s Zhongguancun Science Park or become involved in entrepreneurship in the area, where they get an annotation of “entrepreneurship” added to their student visa.

In early 2017, the central government introduced a program for international students with postgraduate degrees or who had attended “well-known” universities to obtain Chinese work permits after graduation.

Previously, international students and those with degrees obtained overseas had to have a minimum of two years’ work experience outside China before they could apply for a work visa.

Fang Ruting of the international student’s office at Renmin University of China in Beijing said there is an increasing demand for international students at the university to apply for internships to take advantage of China’s rapid development.

The university has worked with large State-owned enterprises, multinational corporations and embassies in China to secure internship opportunities for international students, she said.