"I just wanted to understand my major because I like computer science," he says.

At the USTC, Alsayadi's life was mostly confined within the realm of classes, libraries, dormitories and soccer fields.

"Like other students, I didn't have a real life," he says.

"It's much easier when everyone around you lives like that."

Alsayadi says his undergraduate education at the USTC laid a solid foundation for his future development.

"It's very fundamental and theoretical," he says.

"When I work on a project, I see the basics and methodologies behind it."

He moved to Beijing and enrolled in Tsinghua University as a postgraduate student.

"Beijing is the tech hub in China, especially for the internet-based startups," he says.

He spent more than half of his time off campus studying technology ecosystems. He worked as a software engineer with the Chinese internet giant Baidu, developing the Arabic version of its search engine. At the same time, he launched his own tech startup.

In 2014, he partnered with an entertainment-industry professional and launched the data-analytics company ABD Entertainment.

"My partner has worked in entertainment for more than a decade, so he knows a lot about the industry. We tried to model his thinking as an algorithm," he says.

One of the company's services is movie-risk control, which uses machine-learning techniques to make box-office predictions for investors. The company has successfully predicted some big releases, including The Continent, Breakup Buddies and The Golden Era.

While working as an entrepreneur in Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park, Alsayadi heard about a pilot project that enables foreign entrepreneurs or skilled professionals to apply for permanent residence in 2016.

The program is a merit-based system that accounts for such factors as education and professional experience. So, he and 44 other foreign candidates applied.