CHEN FEIFEI, a Chinese student majoring in journalism in the U.S. state of California, has recently begun counting down her return to China. Today, more and more overseas students are making the same choice as Chen, returning to a China that is more attractive and alluring than ever.

    Since the 18th CPC National Congress was held in 2012, China has accelerated its construction of a globally competitive talent system, which has led to a massive tide of returning Chinese talent. Thanks to China’s growing international influence, more and more young Chinese professionals are opting to return to their homeland.

    “Most of my friends here choose to return to China, and we all think China has big potential and is full of opportunities,” Dai Jiaben, a student at Ohio State University, told the People’s Daily. Dai’s classmates all feel proud to be able to contribute to the growth of their homeland.

    According to the latest data from the Ministry of Education, 4 million Chinese people studied abroad from 1978 to 2015; 2.2 million of them have since returned to China. In 2015, the number of overseas students that returned to China increased by 12.14 percent, clocking in at 44,300 people.

    The government’s increasing focus on overseas talent, favorable policies, stable employment and professional opportunities will help push the tide to its highest point, predicted Ai Shuguang, a member of the Western Returned Scholars Association.

    ‘Let’s go back to China’

    “It took me only three minutes to make my final decision,” said Zhang Ji, a Chinese returnee from Canada, while recalling the life-changing moment when he made up his mind to return to China to start his own business.

    Zhang returned to China in 2009, bringing back a world-leading heart valve implantation system.

    After a 30-minute presentation, Zhang received an investment of 10 million yuan from domestic entrepreneurs, strong policy support of the local government as well as the green light from the authorities.

    But opportunities always coexist with challenges. The road to success back in the homeland is not all rosy.

    Dedicating himself to medical device innovation, research and development in China, Zhang found it hard to update his medical license in Canada in a timely manner, which means he had to give up his well-paid job there.

    In Canada, he could earn in five days what he gets paid in China in a month. Some of Zhang’s friends didn’t understand why he chose to return to China, saying he made a “silly” choice. But Zhang thought otherwise.

    “Yes, I quit an ‘iron rice bowl’ job, but I get an opportunity to fulfill my dreams, to start my own business,” Zhang said.

    Confident about the potential clinical and market value to be generated by his advanced technology, Zhang believes his business has a “boundless prospect.”

    In contrast with Zhang’s highly efficient “three-minute” decision-making, Li Peixiang took quite some time to make up his mind to go back to China.

    After all, Li had already made his mark in Canada’s biological material industry after over 20 years in the industry. His ABM company has been identified by the Canadian Government as one of the five most promising companies in Vancouver.

    With a mindset of having a try, Li participated in the Nanjing “321 Talents Program” in late 2012. After being successfully recruited, Li soon received funds and subsidies from the local government, and the expertise and insights in biological materials of many local officials and investors also impressed him much.

    After making the first step, Li started to build a bigger ambition for the years to come. He set up another new company in Zhenjiang, a city in the eastern Jiangsu Province.

    “I hope the company’s sales will reach 100 million yuan and be listed on the stock market in five years,” Li said.

    For Cao Zuonan, an ecology graduate student at Germany’s University of Tuebingen born in the 1990s, it was his gratefulness to hometown that brought him home.

    His graduation design program — an analysis of the nutrient composition in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau soil — has just been approved by his supervisor and he is about to return to China to collect soil samples.

    Cao spent the first 18 years of his life in Xining of Qinghai Province. He had always missed the magnificent plateau in his hometown during his time in Germany.

    He made up his mind to go to Germany for further studies when he was at college and then to return to China, because he was determined to dedicate himself to environmental protection.

    “I have to be grateful! I have been thinking about how I can pay back my parents, my fellow countrymen and the land that has brought me up since the start of my college time,” said Cao.

    ‘Let’s make core strategies’

    Returning overseas talent has improved China’s competitiveness in the world. Statistics show that over 70 percent of the heads of China’s national key projects are overseas returnees. According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, in 2016, China’s number of scientific papers ranked second in the world, and its contribution to scientific advancements accounted for 56.2 percent of the global total.

    Returned talents have also unleashed great energy in China. So far, there are over 300 pioneer parks created by returnees in China, which generated revenue of 280 billion yuan in 2015. A total of 67,000 returned talents have started businesses in these parks.

    Experts predict that in the next five years, China will reach a turning point. At that time, China will transform from the biggest source of talent in the world into a major destination for international talent.

    Ding Xianfeng still relishes his decision of leaving the Silicon Valley to join Huawei.

    “If I hadn’t quit my job as sensor system platform architect at Intel and returned to serve as director and chief scientist at Huawei’s sensor lab, I would not become a leader in the world’s sensor industry,” said Ding.

    Huawei, one of the top three research companies for mobile application sensors, enjoys an enormous competitive edge.

    “Compared to working in the United States, my influence on the development of the sensor industry in the world has grown hundreds of times ... I represent a purchaser who needs sensors that are worth US$2 billion,” Ding told Xinhua.

    Many returnees said they went back to China because of the “glass ceilings,” meaning foreigners can never climb to the top of the ladder no matter how talented and hard-working they are.

    “Only when you are back in China can you make core strategies,” said Ding repeatedly.

    Things are similar for Huang Xiaobo. “At that time, most of my classmates were studying abroad. But many of them are just doing trivial jobs, their talent wasted,” sighed Huang.

    After years of efforts, Huang has become the director of the Institute of Lithotripsy Application at Peking University and an academic leader of the Department of Urology at Peking University People’s Hospital.

    Huang did not regret his decision.

    “Urology is one of the most popular professions in the United States. It is very unlikely possible that a Chinese doctor can become the head of the urology department at any mainstream U.S. hospital,” Huang said.

    According to the Chinese Education Ministry, around 80 percent of overseas students have returned home in recent years, compared with about a third in 2006. (SD-Xinhua)