The Chinese mainland is ranked third place in the world by expatriates as one of the best destinations for career progression, financial wellbeing and quality of life, according to the seventh Expat Explorer survey commissioned by HSBC Expat on Wednesday.

Switzerland comes top as an all-round expat destination, Singapore comes in at the second place, followed by China, Germany and Bahrain. Hong Kong is ranked 10th on the list.

In terms of economic conditions, Asia is home to the highest earning expats, who are almost three times more likely to earn over 250,000 US dollars annually than their counterparts in Europe. Among countries in Asia, China is home to the highest earning expats in the world, with 23 percent of the expats earn over 300,000 US dollars every year.

The top three occupation of expats in Asia Pacific are Banking, Insurance Financial Services, Education, Telecoms, IT Internet. And 48 percent of expats in Asia are aged 35 to 55. UK has the highest number of expats in Asia, which takes up 34 percent of the whole expats population, followed by the United States and New Zealand, who account for 11 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

The Expat Explorer survey was conducted by YouGov, an international internet-based market research firm based in UK. It was conducted through April and May 2014, polled nearly 9,300 expatriates from over 100 countries. The survey focuses on the experiences of expats in their new country of residence, with expats from all over the world describing the opportunities and challenges they face living away from home.