Over 270,000 overseas Chinese students return in 2012

[cirr]

This may turn into a stampede，not good news for home students looking for jobs。



BEIJING, Nov. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- China is now the world’s largest source of overseas students. And the country’s globalization is greatly benefiting from the talents returning home. A recent report shows the rising trend to come back after graduation or a few years of work.

"Staying or leaving?"

That’s a question many overseas Chinese students ask each other--and themselves--repeatedly.

And the latest study shows more and more are heading home.

According to the newly released report on overseas Chinese students returning to China, more than 270,000 returned in 2012. That’s nearly a 47 percent jump from the previous year.

In the past five years, 800,000 students have returned after graduation, triple the number between 1978 and 2008.

The main attraction is enormous job opportunities brought by China’s maturing economy.

Wang Huiyao, Director of Ctr. for China & Globalization, said, "Nearly 390,000 students went abroad to study last year, and around 270,000 came back. Jobs in sales, marketing, and research and development are among the most popular for the returnees. The skills gained during their studies are the most needed for China’s globalization. This is a selling point in recruitment."

The report notes the reasons for coming back vary according to generation. For those born in the 1960s and 70s, it was career development. For those born in the 1980s and 90s, over 90 percent choose "family" as their primary reason.

"Those overseas students of the past would often try everything to stay after study, even though they could not get a job and had to work in restaurants or the like. The scenario’s been changed. For many students, if they can’t find a job in the foreign country, they will just come back for better opportunities," Wang said.

The report also shows a global trend that an increasing number of Western-trained talents are flocking to the emerging economies instead of staying in the countries where they studied. Within five years, the annual figure of talents coming back to China is expected to exceed the number of those who go abroad.

(Source: CNTV.cn)

Over 270,000 overseas Chinese students return in 2012 - Xinhua | English.news.cn

 

[cirr]

More students back from abroad

By Yang Wanli (China Daily)

08:06, November 05, 2013

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are top three choices

The number of Chinese students returning from overseas is set to exceed those going abroad within the next five years, a survey released on Monday shows.

The report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Chinese talent returning home said the number coming back has continued to increase since 2004.

By 2018, the balance is likely to tilt in favor of the returnees.

Last year, about 2.6 million Chinese went overseas for education, training or on exchange programs, compared with more than 1 million who returned from abroad.

The most popular cities where those returning chose to stay were Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

To attract more talent from abroad, many cities have offered favorable policies on housing, children's education and spouses' jobs.

The report says more than 60 percent of those returning found jobs within six months. Some 25 percent were hired by foreign companies and their branches in China, with the finance sector being the biggest attraction.

"The younger generation feels comfortable living in China after studying overseas, because it would be very difficult for them to merge into mainstream society in a foreign country," said Xia Yingqi, 64, chief adviser at the Beijing Overseas Chinese Talent Center.

Xia was among the first batch of students sent overseas by the government. He studied in Canada from 1978 to 1987, gaining a doctorate degree in engineering. He said there were only 5,000 Chinese students in Canada then, compared with at least 500,000 now.

Liu Yuxuan, 28, a PhD candidate at a university in the Netherlands studying the pathogenesis of hematological cancer, said, "It feels so good to be back home." She wants to return to Beijing after graduating in December.

She said students returning from overseas enjoy many preferential government policies in China, and she, as a medical researcher, can make the best use of her knowledge at home.

But despite the increasing number of students returning from overseas, the cream of them — those with doctorate degrees in science or engineering — are still unwilling to come back.

Statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show that from 1990 to 1999 nearly 90 percent of overseas Chinese students falling into this category chose to stay abroad. The situation shows no sign of changing.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' report said more than half of the Chinese who returned from overseas in 2012 were undergraduates.

They studied mostly in Britain, where the requirements for overseas graduates who want to stay are stricter than in many other countries, including the United States.

Rui Zi, 30, whose husband gained a doctorate degree in engineering in the US, said: "I think I will stay in the United States for at least the next decade. I enjoy the free social benefits and better public services. At least we have fresh air here and not so many people."

Xia said that most of his younger friends who went overseas as the country's top students are staying aboard.

His 34-year-old son gained a master's degree in Britain. "But he loves Beijing. I persuaded him to stay in the UK, but then he insisted on coming back because he could not stand the sense of loneliness in a foreign country."

Li Wei, a professor at Arizona State University, said more Chinese parents want to send their children to study in the United States for a bachelor's degree. She said the number of Chinese students studying for such degrees in the US increased from 8,000 in 2000 to 30,000 in 2010.

"The number of those seeking postgraduate studies is growing slowly," she said.

Britain, the US and Australia are the top three destinations for Chinese students going abroad, the academy's report said.

（Editor：ChenLidan、Yao Chun）

 

[my2cents]

Well if you have only one child policy then you would want your only child to return home.

 

[cirr]

1 In 4 Chinese Students Drop Out Of Ivy Universities And Return Home For Jobs

By Michelle FlorCruz

on October 30 2013 5:48 AM

• 
  A typical scene at Chinese high schools

Doing well on the grueling gaokao college entrance exam in China no longer guarantees a good job. Beijing Cream

Chinese students have been heading abroad to pursue higher education for a long time. In hopes of better educations and job prospects, young Chinese have been flocking to the U.S. and U.K. But a new study reveals that while many Chinese are enrolling at foreign institutions, not all are staying.

Citing data compiled by the 2013 Overseas-Returned Graduate Recruitment Report and university statistics, the South China Morning Post of Hong Kong reports that one in four Chinese students attending Ivy League universities in the U.S. end up dropping out. The study said that while students exhibited high academic achievement in their home country, many found it difficult to adjust and adapt to the new environment, citing problems like language barriers and differences in the education system.

On top of that, those students who do end up finishing their degrees don’t stay in the host country for long, and usually end up back in China. The study, which examined more than 9,000 professionals in 23 major cities in a cross-section of fields, found that half of returning graduates say the main obstacle of staying overseas is “economic conditions,” followed by related issues like extremely competitive employment markets, and poor social skills, which accounted for 38.9 percent and 33.6 percent of respondent’s reasons given, respectively.

The results of the study are not entirely a surprise. As a result of China’s growing economy, jobs at home have become more appealing and often easier to get than in the U.S., which has many Western-educated grads heading back east.

According to a report by the Center for China and Globalization, a nonprofit think tank in Beijing, more than 270,000 overseas graduates returned to China in 2012, which was up 47 percent from the year prior. The study also reported that 70 percent of all Chinese who went overseas chose to look for employment back home.

While the trend to migrate home is not to be ignored, CCG Director Wang Huiyao said the 25 percent dropout rate seemed abnormally high. “The dropout rate apparently is higher than usual, but it appears too high to be true,” Wang told the South China Morning Post. “Students who dropped out of university did not necessarily return to China, They might have just transferred to other schools.”

CCG also suggests that students are dropping out of unaccredited higher education institutions, which are often referred to as “diploma factories.” These schools in the U.S. are often similarly named to name-brand schools, purposefully misleading students to enroll. According to the think tank, 95 percent of diplomas from such shady institutions were given to students from China.

1 In 4 Chinese Students Drop Out Of Ivy Universities And Return Home For Jobs 

Well if you have only one child policy then you would want your only child to return home.

Firstly，the one child policy only applies to city dewellers and the Han ethnic majority。

Secondly，the one child policy is as good as dead these days，for many city folks either have two or more kids or don't want any kids。

Lastly，the one child policy has more or less served its purpose（great family planning）and is likely be scrapped in 5-10 years。

 

[terranMarine]

If Xi isn't gonna drop this policy, we can only hope his successor will.

 

[Jlaw]

It doesn't matter if graduates get a job in the short term, education is important. Without higher education, China will lose its scientific and competitive edge.

 

[S10]

My experience:

1. A lot of these "sea turtles" are children of the wealthy businessmen and government officials in China. They go to Europe or North America to get their "education". Once they return, they get jobs arranged by their parents. While not all of them are lazy, I know quite a few that are just into luxuries and enjoying themselves. A lot of them are earning some worthless/easy degrees. It concerns me that one day they'll go home and become officials.

2. The ones that are into science and get good grades, usually end up getting jobs overseas.

 

[jhungary]

The more Chinese student stay in china the better, and not just better for china, it's better for the world

The enmasse of Chinese student during the 90s, 2000s have transform the western education system into an import business, the commodity is the student itself.

College in Australia, Britain and US have taken more than 40% are international student, some time even more than 50%

That means the college would rather admit an international student rather than a local student, since the former pay cash

Many people have a good enough academic qualification failed to secure a place at the university because of the international student.

Not to mention the oppuntities that international student took away once he or she decided to stay...

 

[Jlaw]

The more Chinese student stay in china the better, and not just better for china, it's better for the world

The enmasse of Chinese student during the 90s, 2000s have transform the western education system into an import business, the commodity is the student itself.

College in Australia, Britain and US have taken more than 40% are international student, some time even more than 50%

That means the college would rather admit an international student rather than a local student, since the former pay cash

Many people have a good enough academic qualification failed to secure a place at the university because of the international student.

Not to mention the oppuntities that international student took away once he or she decided to stay...

But that is the problem with the greedy establishments, not the fault of the students. You are aware that foreign students pay 3x the tuition fee compare local students.

Education in the US has always been a business. How can you justify paying 50k tutition fees per year for Ivy league schools?

I agree these students returning is good for China since they can put their knowledge helping China to further advance.

 

[jhungary]

But that is the problem with the greedy establishments, not the fault of the students. You are aware that foreign students pay 3x the tuition fee compare local students.

Education in the US has always been a business. How can you justify paying 50k tutition fees per year for Ivy league schools?

I agree these students returning is good for China since they can put their knowledge helping China to further advance.

That is the problem for both the student and the greed of the institution (not the government) the government had no control on how many international student enrol in university, they can only limited the number of student visas

Problem is, I lived in US, Australia, Hong Kong, China, UK, Mexico and Sweden I had seen how student flow between each one of those country

Problem is, when there are international student who are willing to pay twice or terife of normal tuition fees,those school will continue with this trend.

The sooner everybody stay at home the better for everybody. That is the only truth

 

[Kloitra]

T
That means the college would rather admit an international student rather than a local student, since the former pay cash

That's not always true. I have seen at many institutes, that local students are either not qualified, or not applying at all. Well, for masters or higher. If the institute is not full of Asian students, it would have large number of Europeans. Thats especially true for Engineering/Science programs. Here in Montreal, in Mcgill/Concordia university, Canadians flock to arts, while engineering/science programs are flooded by Asians, even for under grads.

 

[Ajatashatru]

Well its a good thing. It will stop brain drain.

 

[Destro]

Great news, hopefully they bring back all Yankee technology back to China to make us stronger.

We need more Chinese eyes in western countries giving the CPC information regarding the US and transfer technology secrets.

More spies we have in the US, the better.

CPC doing great job.