Competing for Talent: China’s Strategies to Reverse the Brain Drain

By David Zweig

In order to sustain its economic growth, China has been pursuing a number of policies aimed at recovering its expatriate brain power by encouraging scholars living abroad to return.

While local government authorities compete to recruit returnees, the central Government has introduced various policies to facilitate repatriation and resettlement, including preferential treatment for housing and research, financial benefits (fellowships), better dissemination of information, etc. The author concludes that these efforts have not been in vain, but notes that few of those who have returned have given up particularly successful careers abroad to do so.

(International Labour Review; vol. 145, no 1-2, 2006)