How much $ should I be paid to work in china?

Question

My US Employer wants my family and I to go to china. (Its a cabinet company) They need me to be a QC guy (Quality control) we have about 6-8 factories all in the same province. It would require my time, maybe 2-3 days a week to start out. living there two years minimum.
What salary should I ask for? Thanks!

Answer 1

For starters, get your hands on an expatriate compensation guide and see what comparable expatriate professionals are earning in China. This will give you some idea of what compensation is and how it is structured.

Generally, expatriate professionals get a small raise (a big raise, if there is no tax treaty between your home country and the country of your posting), but on top of that, there are also hardship pay, housing allowance (your employer agrees to take care of the rent no matter what the rent is, as long as your accommodations are not extravagant), company car (and, possibly, a driver), language tuition allowance for you and possibly your spouse, private school cost reimbursement for your children, health insurance with medical evacuation coverage for the entire family, reimbursement for tax preparation in both the home country and the country of posting, and possibly a term life insurance policy.

Answer 2

At least 10% more than you make here. This will compensate you for the extra expenses, licenses, fees, inconvenience, that you will have to deal with living in a foreign country.
I assume they are paying for expenses to move you, helping you with housing, and will provide an insured company vehicle, right? Your cost of living will be less expensive, but you will need more things that Americans take for granted to make you comfortable.
Look into what your taxes will be as a foreign national working in their country, if it changes anything on your American or state taxes, look into the cost of education for your kids (if you have any, you don't say).
One real plus to it is if you are career building, it looks great on a resume.
Something that would concern me is the chance of getting sick since their germs are different than the ones you've built immunities to.
If you go, have fun, and make it an adventure.
Make up your mind that you will like it and take that attitude; it will be a good experience no matter what. My husband and I lived in the Philippines for 2 yrs, and that attitude made things so much better than what I saw in some other Air Force wives. Some people just hated it and were miserable. I tried to find the good and the happy in everything, and I would love to get back there someday :-)

Answer 3

If you went to China making what you make in the US, you'd live like a king.

As an alternative, I would fight for more vacation time, travel money to visit the US..etc