China was ranked the third-best in the world overall for foreign expatriates to live in, and first for economic reasons, according to an annual worldwide survey of expatriates.

In this year's Expat Explorer Survey, now in its seventh year, China was third overall behind Switzerland and Singapre, and topped the economics tables, coming in first place across multiple economic factors, such as income, wealth and disposable income.

Like Us on Facebook

A Better Opportunity

"Indeed, a significant proportion of expats in China say that they are happy with the general state of the economy," said the survey, citing that 85% of expats in China expressed this sentiment, compared with a 62% average for expats worldwide.

The survey expects this trend to continue, as 52% of expats in China currently associate the country with economic growth, while the global average for expats who felt this about their new country was just 33%.

China is also home to some of the highest earning expats in the world with 23% earning more than $300,000 per year, compared to the worldwide average of just 5%.

The country also earned high marks for its low cost of living, ranking fourth out of 34 countries, as expats there spend far less on public transportation, household goods and utilities than the majority of expats in other countries.

The combination of high earning and a low cost of living means that some 76% of expats in China say they have more disposable income than they did back in their home country. This far outpaces the 52% of all expats worldwide who expressed this sentiment.

And when it comes to education, most expats in China feel their child is getting a better education there then where they came from. Almost two-thirds of expat parents in China say that the quality of their children's education has improved as a result of the move, compared with the global average of 46%.

Moving to a foreign country away from family and friends understandably results in a expats having less of a social life than they did back home. Only 43% of expats in China said they have a better social life than before the move. However, that far exceeds the survey's overall average of 28% of worldwide expats who have enjoyed a better social life in their adopted country.

The Pearl of the Orient

Hong Kong, which was regarded separately and was not included with China in the survey, has proved to be a popular destination for financial services professionals, who make up 45% of the expats polled there.

For 52% of expats surveyed, better job prospects brought them to Hong Kong (compared with 38% globally who become expats for this reason). Nearly 70 percent of expats report that they have a higher income since making the move, and 55% associate the city with higher salaries generally.

However, Hong Kong it's a notoriously expensive city to live in, which was reflected in the survey's cost of living results. More than eight in ten (82%) expat parents in Hong Kong said that it has become more expensive to raise their children, compared with 66% for the worldwide average.

The Expat Explorer Survey was commissioned by HSBC,  and conducted by third-party research company YouGov, which polled 9,288 expats through an online questionnaire.

TagsThe Expat Explorer Survey, HSBC, YouGov, expatriates, China ranked 3rd