One in a million

Speaking a 'less commonly taught language' in China can be a fast track to high earnings and promotion, Tiffany Tan discovers.

For someone who describes herself as "lazy", Jiao Xue is doing rather well in her career. The 26-year-old is an assistant manager in the Teheran office of Citic Construction, a State-controlled enterprise with infrastructure projects in Iran.

As an expatriate employee, Jiao makes the equivalent of 13,100 yuan ($2,000) a month, three to four times what she would earn on the Chinese mainland.