Foreign resources have helped fuel China's perennial economic boom. But it is not just petrol, coal and steel that have to be imported: human resources from abroad are also part of the mix. In January, Wen Jiabao, China's premier, announced that he wanted to invite more foreigners to work there, claiming that: "A nation can be prosperous only when it is open and inclusive." Those arriving to take up his invitation risk bumping into disgruntled expats on their way out.

More than 550,000 foreigners currently work in China, after a decade of 10 percent-a-year increases. Many of them are youngsters fleeing dire European or American job markets and drawn by the brightest beacon of the global economy. A big attraction is to try and find opportunities in China that wouldn't exist back home. Some join local or multinational outfits, hoping for quick promotions. Setting up a business seems disproportionately popular. Part of the reason is that the outlay is relatively small by Western standards. Jason Misium, a Harvard graduate who moved to Beijing in 2008, spent $12,000 to set up an education consultancy with a friend. "It's just so cheap to start a business," he says. Unlike moving to other parts of the West, expats will find securing a work visa a lengthy and bureaucratic process, often requiring trips to Hong Kong to extend their stay.

But once seen as above the fray when it came to landing plum jobs, young expats are now competing head-on with a burgeoning middle-class of graduates educated domestically and overseas. As China's economy has strengthened during the financial crisis, its employment market has become just that: a competitive market. Before, expats like Misium could rely on their foreign degrees and access to cash to get ahead. They now have to contend with around 285,000 Chinese students who have been sent overseas to study, up from 24,000 in 1995, according to EIC Group China, an educational services provider. Locals have high expectations when returning to their home country after a stint abroad - and debts to pay off. Most come back with English which is far better than any foreigner's Mandarin.

The reality of youthful expat life in China has always been less glamorous than sometimes suggested. Outside the Hong Kong-focused banking sector, which continues to pay well, making ends meet can be tricky. Many younger expats have to supplement their salaries with tuition work on the weekends. That may still make them better off than their counterparts back home. Quite a few become disenchanted; swathes of poor graduates arrive in China only to realise they are now swathes of poor students learning Mandarin.

Those who secure jobs fear they are filling in merely until a suitable local can be found. Mattan Lurie first moved to China in 2003 to study Mandarin before returning with an MBA from the University of California in 2005. He helped raise $2bn for a top China private-equity firm before being replaced by a native Chinese. Even with a good grounding of Mandarin his outlook on moving to China is as bleak as the capital's skyline itself. "Don't, don't, don't, don't," he says. More seasoned professionals echo his warning. "There's this perception that China is a land of opportunity where any foreigner can succeed, which is not really true," Michael Thorneman, partner and head of China operations for Bain & Co, a consulting firm told Bloomberg last year.

For many of those who have triumphed, success comes by acting as a link between China and the West - more often than not after a stint as an English teacher. But branching into the nexus of business and politics, where many local billionaires make their money, is as risky as it is difficult. Neil Heywood, a Brit who acted as a fixer for Bo Xilai, a Communist Party grandee, was murdered in a Chongqing hotel room in 2011. Bo's wife pleaded guilty to the crime, saying she was angered by Heywood's threats towards her son.

Some Western expats may be disappointed their fair skin and blonde hair no longer turn heads and compel photographs or job offers. Indeed, the future may be all too mundane for the next generation of young arrivals. Benoit Cezard, himself a young French expat, recently released a photo series called China 2050 that foresees a galling future of foreigners taking on the roles traditionally filled by China's migrant worker population.

China's perception of foreigners has changed. While the government labels anyone with a work visa a 'foreign expert', many are realising their inevitable fate as a 'foreign export'.