Expat contracts: repayment requirement ?

No direct experience with this, but I had a clause that if I quit in the first year, I would have to repay all training related costs.
I think it depends on why your company does send you to China. What is the benefit for your company if they send you to China. Is the major benefit in your work in China, or in the experience that you are getting from the work in China. The latter one could be seen as a training sponsored by the company, which could justify a repayment clause in the agreement. You need to be aware that sending somebody for 2 years to China and offering a western standard living style in China can cause considerable expenses for the company.

Thanks for your reply. The situation is our Chinese subsidiary is focused on my work in China during the 2 years while the headquarters (my contract partner) is already planning the time after my return - what my personal plans are, what job I want to do etc.

I completely understand that there is a financial risk for my company. However, costs we are talking about are flights (1 or 2 a year), full accommodation costs and mandarin course. Paying back the mandarin course makes sense to me, but flights and accommodation? These are directly connected to my stay and work in China. As long as I fulfill the agreed time period, I see no reason to pay back these?!

please make sure this is something you really want to do and can do. living here is no picnic. i have visited for aboyut 10 years before i decided to move here. i am a teacher. yes far different then what you are doing. i work for a licensed agency in a primary public school. i too have to repay the contract if i should leave before it is up. how ever, they have done everything they can do and then some to make me want to leave and do not support me in any way job wise or any other way.  if it were not for that repayment i would have been long gone. though the duties were specifically spelled out, nothing is what it seems to be until you are here. they have squeezed every single extra second that they can out of me and yet no matter what i do, it isnt good enough. i can do what they say to do and then they say not to and to do something else. they are good at saying they didnt say that too. this garbage would never fly in a western country. please please make total sure of what you will be doing. and never ever underestimate anything. what they consider to be a 'western' apartment is far from what you may think one is and when things go wrong they tell you so what its china. 2 years is a long time to be stuck over here. im only stuck here a year and so regret it. visiting is way different from living. i have been to about 25 cities before and consider most to be great. but i got stuck in the middle of no wheres and the locals do not take kindly to foreigners. sorry to butt into this but i think warned is better than being surprised or disappointed.

Run away.  Flight and living costs are part of the cost of doing business.  Mandarin lessons are as well.  This company wants you to assume all the risks of their venture in China.  You didn't specify under what circumstances they would demand repayment but what if they decide that you aren't "suitable" for the job well into your 2 year contract?   Would you be liable to repay them even if you put in a lot of time?  I can't imagine any reputable company wanting you to agree to pay them back for those expenses.  Would they be willing to pay you a percentage of the revenue you generate during that time?   Might be a good question to ask them.....but I think I already know the answer.   I wouldn't sign that contract.

Your story is easy for me to believe--but--so many wide-eyed westerners would probably look askance at it.   They simply have no frame of reference in their home countries that allows understanding of Chinese business "ethics". 

I left--bugged out--from  my first teaching job for a private school.  When I first arrived they showed me my "western" apartment.   I wouldn't put my dog there.   Then they showed me an alternative that looked a lot better but I would have to pony up 500 a month for that one.   When the light fixture in the bathroom shorted out they sent someone to fix it......but guess who had to pay for it.  The pipes underneath the kitchen sink leaked a lot of water into the apartment below mine while I was out.  They tried to get me to pay not only to fix them but to pay for the damage done to the apartment below.  I told them to stick it. Then, as it got really really cold the apartment became uninhabitable.  I could literally see my breath in the apartment during the daytime.  It was worse at night.   I had to buy a 500 rmb heater which then made my electric bill (yes I paid all utilities) skyrocket.  When that heater died about two weeks later it was the final straw. 

During my tenure they, as you described, insisted I take part in many "English corners" and other extra time activities at no additional pay.   They would change my schedule and teaching location every week, never inform me of it and then blame and fine me for not showing up or being late.   

I tried to cut my losses.  When I went to the bank (which the school insisted I use for direct deposit) to withdraw all of the money in it I was told I had to get permission from the school to do it.  I raised hell at the bank and they finally caved and let me withdraw all but 1000 rmb. 

I left the next day.  I didn't feel badly doing that because the school had violated my contract so many times.  They wouldn't respond to my complaints saying, 'this is China".   Three other teachers bugged out too.   

Not all schools and businesses in China are like that.......but a disturbingly large proportion of them are.
There's an old saying in China...."if your're not cheating you're not doing business".   These crooks wouldn't last a day in the US.

and so i have learned this the hard way too. what a crazy place. and yes, this is china--like that makes it ok to not treat people right. they take great pleasure in making a person miserable. instead of realizing it does not make them look like the heroes they think they are, they continue to be abusive and awful. the children would learn far more from cooperative efforts. when my time is up here, im gone. i will make arrangements before hand to send my things somewhere else so when they day comes, i am gone. tired of freezing too. the heater i bought stinks. the children wear coats in class when they have heaters but do not use them. prob will blow the roof off if they do. i feel badly  when the kids tell me they are cold. they are afraid to complain to the chinese teachers. they will be shrieked at. when did shreiking (sp) at a child ever improve their learning-- never.. but it is part of their culture. and my bldg is moldy beyond anything i have ever seen, and i have lived in florida where mold is a daily part of life.  and--this memorizing thing is awful too. they do not really learn the material, just parrot back a bunch of words. and one more thing, these teachers knowledge of the english language stinks too. they pronounce everything wrong.---- but back on the subject--- i dont know if they can make someone pay the money or not. i guess if you left they cant, who knows or who is willing to find out. like you really have to get very sick or something drastic to leave. i will do the best i can do to stick it out and hope that i will make it out of here alive.

I hear ya.  If I can offer some advice.....

Start taking money out of your bank account gradually over the next few months.  Once you accumulate a significant amount get a Chinese friend to go to another bank and exchange it for USD.  IF you try to do that yourself the bank is likely to demand your tax records before they will exchange it.   Find a safe place to stash the cash or wire it to someone back home you trust.  Leave only as much in China as it takes to sustain life.  You can exchange it at the airport kiosk without much hassle but you'll take a significant hit on the exchange rate.

The bank your school uses will communicate to your school if you try to take all of it out at once.  You don't want them knowing your business.   Additionally--your school may make conditions increasingly difficult for you towards the end of your contract.  If it becomes truly intolerant you'll have most of your money in hand in case you decide to do a midnight run.  I have seen it happen......your money gets deposited into your account on the first of the month, gets taken out on the second of the month and you're on a plane the third day of the month.

Start going through the accumulated stuff you've purchased here.   Make two piles.....one to take back and one to leave behind.   When the time comes, give it away to a friend.   

Make sure that you have your passport in your hand and not in the school's.  When you leave China remove the sim card from your phone and destroy it.   If you think that the school may have your password to anything....bank acct. email, etc.  change it.  Make sure that your school gives you a letter of contract completion at the end of its term.   That is very important.   Make sure that you leave China a day or two (at least) before your visa expires. 

AS to the education the kids get......yep.  All learn by rote.   In my second teaching job at a university I literally threw the textbook and CD out the window of my classroom.  I never used a text again.  My students scored higher on the IELTS test than any in the history of the program.  I refused to teach how to pass a test.  I was hired to teach English.....and that is exactly what I did. 

The Chinese teachers resent us because we generally make more money.   What they don't understand (and I took particular delight in telling one particularly obnoxious one) is that we are all alone, half way around the world in a totally different culture.  We don't get a pension or any retirement pay.  We have to pay our own way here and back and are lucky if we get that back even if the contract stipulates it.   We actually care about what happens to our students. 

I have made some great friends here.  In general I have been treated with respect and kindness by my friends and students.  I think most Chinese folks are just regular people who want the same things we do......peace, prosperity and a better life for their kids.  However, I think this will be my last year in China.   I will miss most of it.

Thanks for your replies! I'm sorry to hear about your really bad experiences that you made in China. I hope you can fix your problems and return home soon, and eventually look back at your China experience as an instructive time at least.

Returning to my original topic: I finally came to an agreement with my company - without repayment requirement. I know my relocation is connected with some personal risks for me, but I'm really confident that everything will work out. Also my contract partner remains my German company - based on German law. And nobody can ever stop me from entering the next plane and leave China, if the situation should ever become unacceptable.

I'm looking forward to my China experience!

I'm glad you were able to get things worked out.   

HOWEVER--do not for one second believe that nothing can stop you from getting on a plane to leave China.   The airport officials starting with the airline check in person all the way  through passport control and security to the moment you get on that plane and it takes off have the power to stop you and detain you.  They will look at your passport and your visa carefully.   If there is any--and I mean ANY--discrepancy or an order to hold you for something they can and will do it.   I have seen it happen for something as trivial as a typographical error in the spelling of your name or a facial recognition system that won't confirm your face to the picture in your passport.   I have a beard and the recognition software has a lot of trouble with that.  They would not let me pass until I raised hell about it--my photo in my passport has me with a beard as well....but the rules these government people live by defy common sense.     There are many things to enjoy in China.   There are some things that are annoying.   On balance I would say that my good experiences outweigh the bad.   Just be aware.