Since opening two years ago, Indiana University’s global gateway office in Beijing has actively supported Hoosier academic activities and partnerships across China and has met the needs of a rapidly expanding number of IU alumni there.

Indiana University is one of six universities that created a career fair for Chinese students and graduates seeking job opportunities with top firms in China. The China Gateway office was instrumental in organizing the event in downtown Shanghai on Saturday.

A similar event will take place this Saturday in Beijing at the China World Hotel.

About 65 companies participated in the Shanghai career fair at the China Financial Information Center, along with about 1,200 up-and-coming Chinese professionals. They included about 120 students who have been studying at IU across different majors and degree programs.

“It was also great to see that IU alumni staffed the desks of three companies there — Decathlon, JPMorgan and GE,” said Steven Yin, office manager for the IU China Gateway.

Before Saturday’s fair began, IU participated in a half-day conference on the topic of international career development for Chinese returning from overseas. It was attended by most of the companies and all the host universities. Yin said it was a great opportunity for IU to present to these leading Chinese employers, who included many familiar multinational companies, what its presence in the country can offer.

“They provided us valuable feedback on hiring Chinese students with overseas degrees and how our students can better prepare for the job market in China,” said Yin, who previously served as the deputy director of the EducationUSA China program at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Participants included familiar brands such as Apple, AMD, Bloomberg, BP, Cargill, Citrix, eBay, GE, PayPal, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, as well as a number of top Chinese companies, such as HILTI and WuXi AppTec.

Yin was joined by Jing Han, a career coach at IU’s Kelley School of Business who works closely with the international student population. Before the Shanghai career fair, 14 recent graduates and students also visited GE China’s huge industrial park campus in Shanghai.

“We were given a very detailed introduction to GE’s operation in China and what career development opportunities students shall expect working for GE,” Yin said, adding that 2013 Kelley alumnus Yaonan Pan played a pivotal role in setting up the visit.

One of the students met with the top human resources manager during the visit.

“Yaonan also set up meetings for us with human resources in GE’s finance department and with campus relations, to discuss GE China’s future recruitment at IU. He plays a tremendous role in connecting GE China and IU, which demonstrates again the importance of maintaining strong overseas alumni relationships,” Han said.

“We also want to give a big ‘thank you’ to the Indiana University Chinese Student and Scholar Association and the Kelley Chinese Business Association. We really appreciate their continued support in promoting and coordinating the events on campus and in China,” Han added.

Glory Geng, a Kelley School of Business student who attended both the Shanghai career fair and GE visit, said those activities exposed him to the vast job market and diverse job opportunities targeting overseas returnees in China. He was once lost about his post-graduation plan, but interactions with employers and alumni have helped him better understand the advantages of beginning a career in China and confirmed his plans to go back after getting his business degree.

Ryan Liu, vice president of career development and alumni at the IU Chinese Student and Scholar Association and also a Kelley School student, said the career fairs will strengthen relationships between current students and international alumni and hopes these events can become routine for IU.

Ally Batten, IU director of international gateway offices, which also include those in India and Germany, also offered appreciation for all the hard work being done on behalf of IU students.

“Steven and Jing deserve much credit for coordinating and generating interest in this event. Our global gateway offices are a resource for the entire IU community — students, faculty and alumni — and this initiative really shows the benefit of having a presence on the ground in China. Without the gateway office, events like this would not be possible,” he said.