Samuel Keith, a student from the US, delivers packages with his colleague on Thursday in Beijing. Photo: courtesy of Suning Commerce Group

 

Samuel Keith, a student from the US, delivers packages with his colleague on Thursday in Beijing. Photo: courtesy of Suning Commerce Group

 

Instead of heading home for the Spring Festival, Samuel Keith, an American student at Peking University, may be turning up at yours with package in hand. 

The Minnesota native is one of a select number of foreign students recruited by consumer electronics giant Suning Commerce Group through its internship program that aims to ensure the company's express delivery services stay up to speed over the holidays.

The Chinese language student started his first shift at the company's Chaoyang Road branch on Thursday, where he organized and loaded up packages before setting off with a Chinese colleague on a delivery trike.  

Keith, who arrived in August, said he heard about the part-time position through friends and felt it a good way to practice his Chinese. 

"I really want to know the culture of the people, and that is why I am here," Keith said on Thursday.  

Suning is one of China's largest electronics retail chains and boasts its own delivery fleet. 

The company said it recently began recruiting foreigners as a way to remedy the temporary shortage of hands as many Chinese workers head back home for the Spring Festival break. 

But Keith says he will only spend four days with the company before delivering himself to Shanxi Province to spend the festival with friends.  

Suning did not disclose the exact number of foreigners involved in the internship program. 

Keith explains he is working with another foreign colleague from Russia who plans to spend two months with the company.