Driven by technological and economic growth, China has attracted a substantial number of high-skilled professionals to work and settle in the country. However, persistent cross-cultural adaptation challenges continue to constrain the full deployment of their expertise and undermine their long-term retention. This points to a structural imbalance in China's talent attraction policy, which has historically prioritized recruitment and entry over integration and sustained support. Research on acculturation and residence intentions of foreign high-skilled professionals carries significant practical relevance.

Drawing on data from the 2023 Survey of Social Condition of Foreign Talents in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, this study employs a logit model to systematically identify the acculturation patterns of high-skilled foreign professionals in China and delineate the mechanisms by which these patterns influence residence intentions through life satisfaction, place dependence, and place identity.

The analysis revealed four primary acculturation strategies: assimilation-inclined integration, integration, moderate integration, and separation. These findings extend and empirically test the applicability of bidirectional acculturation theory to non-traditional immigration contexts. Most professionals adopt proactive strategies (assimilation-inclined integration, integration, moderate integration), all of which show positive associations with residence intentions in both the short and long term. By contrast, only a minority (16.07%) resort to separation—a finding that contrasts with earlier observations of short-term high-skilled migrants frequently remaining within an “expat bubble”. Second, these strategies influence residence intentions through distinct mediating mechanisms. Integration operates via life satisfaction, place dependence, and place identity; assimilation-inclined integration and moderate integration operate via life satisfaction and place dependence. Third, self-efficacy plays a significant protective role, both by indirectly influencing settlement intentions through moderating the effects of assimilation-oriented acculturation strategies on life satisfaction and place identity, and by showing a significant positive correlation with long-term settlement intentions. Fourth, proactive acculturation has a stronger positive effect on residence intentions of family-reunion migrants than on those of corporate expatriates, whereas moderate integration is more effective in boosting residence intentions of career-oriented migrants. The frequency of voluntary participation is a direct positive predictor of settlement intentions among separated individuals. However, high-frequency participation undermines the positive effect of integration-oriented and moderate integration strategies on short-term settlement intentions. Autonomous participation attenuates only the effect of integration-oriented strategies on short-term settlement intentions. In contrast, the influence pathways of acculturation strategies remain largely unaffected by variations in the frequency of community-based participation.

We propose an integrated three-pronged strategy to promote proactive cultural adaptation and strengthen long-term retention among foreign high-skilled professionals in China. This involves: (1) establishing a targeted identification and dynamic evaluation mechanism to deliver motivation-strategy aligned interventions; (2) defining a clear collaborative governance framework between the government and market actors across functional and psychological dimensions to clarify roles and enhance synergy; and (3) constructing a tiered social participation platform, guided by public-service initiatives and supported by community networks, to provide structured pathways for meaningful engagement. Collectively, these measures are designed to cultivate an enabling ecosystem that facilitates adaptive acculturation and systematically enhances foreign professionals' willingness to pursue sustained career development in China.