Thank you for your interest in an internship with the U.S. Commercial Service in China. Internship opportunities are available in the Commercial Section of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and in the U.S. Consulates in Shanghai , Guangzhouand Chengdu. All locations offer an equally rewarding experience working with the U.S. Commercial Service.

The Commercial Section is charged with helping U.S. firms export their goods and services to China. To accomplish this mission, we offer a variety of resources and services to assist U.S. companies entering the Chinese market.

The Commercial Section has had numerous interns in the past. We have been fortunate to have had hard working, responsible and personable interns and believe interns greatly add to our already pleasant work environment.

Interns must be currently enrolled students or students who are between school semesters for no longer than five months. All internships are unpaid and we cannot assist with airfare, housing or other expenses. An official letter of recommendation can be provided and many universities will award academic credit for your work.

The purpose of the program is to provide college students and law students with "hands-on" experience working in a commercial section of a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Each post determines its own criteria for intern applicants. We advise you to correspond directly with the intern coordinator at the post (Beijing Mailbox, Shanghai Mailbox, Guangzhou Mailbox and Chengdu Mailbox) in which you are interested.

The types of work which an intern might do are quite varied and may include:

• Following China's developments in specific market sectors and briefing Commercial Officers on those developments.
• Undertaking research for, and writing, major market opportunity reports, published in the National Trade Data Base maintained by the Department of Commerce.
• Providing assistance to Commercial Officers and Commercial Specialists conducting Department of Commerce services and participating in meetings, conferences, and/or other trade-related activities.
• Assisting the Commercial Service on policy related initiatives, including policy analysis, business advocacy, technical assistance to the Chinese companies, and assistance to U.S. companies on China's trade system.
• Assisting the Commercial Service and intellectual property officers on intellectual property related issues, including work on patent, trademark, copyright and enforcement related issues, training Chinese government officials and advising companies, throughout China.
• Drafting and/or editing non-sensitive English language correspondence.
• Conducting business analysis.
• Developing and/or launching new Commercial Service products, including web site design.
• Assisting with trade conferences and trade shows.

The duration of the internship follows that of the academic calendar. Applicants with good English and Chinese language ability and commercial /trade experience will be given priority. If you have not heard by the response date, please consider other options.
Spring – Application Deadline: October. 31st, & Response Date: November 30th
Summer – Application Deadline: February 28th, & Response Date: March. 30th
Fall – Application Deadline: May 31st, & Response Date: June 31st

American students interested in interning with us, please confirm by providing to the intern coordinator in the Embassy or relevant Consulate the following:

a.Resume and Schedule of Availability(indicating full-time or part-time status and the tentative start and end dates of the term period);
b. Completed and signed Credit Report Release Statement;
c. Copy of completed and signed Volunteer Service Agreement(Agreement)
d. Completed and signed Form SF-85P;
e. Selective Service Verification Form
f. Current Chinese language skills (speaking, reading and writing);
g. Transcript (unofficial or official);
h. All amounts and forms of financial aid, if any, currently receiving (optional).

Feel free to send documents as they are completed; however, no intern application will be considered until we receive all of the documents. Upon receipt of the above information, the United States government will conduct a background and credit checks on each applicant. This process may take up to two months and no internship can start before the background check is complete.

Chinese students interested in learning more about the Commercial Sector are also welcome to apply for internships. After submitting the following, all Chinese applicants will be subject to a background check by Embassy / Consulate security office:

1. Resume and Schedule of Availability (indicating full-time or part-time status and the tentative start and end dates of the term period);
2. Application Form (for employment as a foreign service national, filled in both Mandarin and English);
3. Student Volunteer Service Agreement;
4. “non-Criminal” Record issued by local police station;
5. Copy of ID card.

If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to ask. We look forward to hearing from you. Please direct your inquiries to our internship coordinators at posts: Ms. Haixia SU at haixia.su@N0SPAM.mail.doc.gov in Embassy Beijing or Ms. Michelle He at michelle.he@N0SPAM.mail.doc.gov in Consulate Shanghai.

If you are interested in an Internship with U.S. Comercial Service in Hong Kong, please click here.